Mass Effect : The Rise of Sovreign
by SingularMonk
Summary: Humanity is new to the galaxy, and is trying to make it's mark on the galaxy. But there are many who disregard this young race and do not think it is ready for the responsibilities of joining the Council. But the first human Spectre might change this.
1. Prologue

**Mass Effect**

**A Fanfiction by 7h3gr835hnoZz**

**Prologue**

The conference room was elaborately decorated, expensive sculptures and artworks lined the walls of the conference room. But all this was lost on the three men sitting around the circular table in the centre.

"Well, what about Shepard? Earthborn... but no record of his family." Ambassador Udina scanned through the dadapads lengthy list of credentials that the N7 operative had obtained. Finally someone who seemed worth having to rifle through the Alliance's endless number of possible candidates for. This was not the job of a high ranking ambassador like himself, it was a job for the clerks, those who were paid to do such menial tasks.

"Doesn't have one," Captain Anderson replied, "He was raised on the streets, learned to look out for himself."

Udina looked at the Captain, the man seemed awfully sure of what he said. "I hope this did not nurture any problematic relationships or habits, it would not do humanity any good if it's first Spectre were a red sand addict."

"From the looks of things such problems shouldn't arise," Admiral Hachett said, seeming slightly impressed. "He proved himself during the Blitz. Held off enemy forces on the ground until reinforcements arrived."

"Yes," Anderson seconded."Shepard is already a figure of considerable standing, at least on Elysium, he's the only the reason the colony is still standing."

"Well we can't question his courage," Udina said, this candidate seemed more and more promising.

Anderson looked around the table, his mind seemingly made up. "Humanity needs a hero and Shepard's the best we've got."

Hackett nodded at this statement, Udina was relieved that no more files had to be worked through, then he could get back to doing his real job. But this was a major break for humanity, he hoped that this Shepard wouldn't ruin this opportunity, such chances were scarce and last time the whole thing had gone to hell.

The Ambassador stood up, gathering his things, "I'll make the call."

Captain Anderson and Admiral Hackett looked at each other and smiled, their plan had worked. Shepard was the best human soldier out there, but if they had confronted Udina with this directly he would probably not have agreed, if only to prove that he also had power and standing in galactic scociety.

The two men also gathered the datapads they had been using to scan through files and play the occasional game of Solitaire. Saluting each other before leaving the room they both went their way. Admiral Hackett to his office and Captain Anderson to a certain XO of his, to make sure the Normandy was ready to leave.

_Hey! After reading numerous brilliant Mass Effect stories out there I decided to write one from my point of view as a Male/Earthborn/War Hero/Soldier/Paragon._

_If there are any good M!Shepard stories out there please point them out to me as I, have a slow connection and it is a bit tedious to go through more than 3000 stories._

_Everything belongs to Bioware_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Not just a Shakedown-run**

The Normandy passed by Jupiter on it's way to the Mass Relay, the sleek ship was like none other in the human fleet, a breakthrough in joint engineering by humans and turians. In it's Spartan interior, a lone figure dressed in BDUs that military personnel wore when not on duty made it's way through the blue-lit corridors.

A voice transmitted over the General Intercom, "_The Arctutus Prime relay is in range . Initializing transmission sequence._"

The man made his way past the ships physician, Dr. Chakwas, a woman who was already past her fifties but had aged well with only her grey-silver hair giving any indication of her age.

The man continued through the ship, walking by the holographic galaxy display, he passed a younger soldier who was heading in the opposite direction, "Commander..." younger soldier saluted to him, the insignias on his uniform showing him to be a corporal.

The Intercom made another announcement as the Normandy hurtled by Uranus, "_We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination._"

The man walked past Navigator Pressly, who was having a conversation with Chief Engineer Adams.

"_Relay hot, acquiring approach vector."_

The man scanned the bridge, the various computer terminals occupied by various crew-personnel, each of them working on the amber holo's in front of them.

"_All stations secure for transit_"

The man dodged a crew-member rushing past the terminals and stood next to the turian Spectre. Nihlus, who was garbed in his armour, stood behind the pilot who made another announcement over the comms.

"_The board is green. Approach run has begun... Hitting Relay in 3... 2..._"

The Normandy aligned itself with the massive space construct that was the Local Cluster's Mass Relay. The giant rings in the core of the relay whirled faster, the element-zero at it's centre glowing brighter and brighter. Until...

"1_..._"

The Normandy glowed as the relay propelled it into space like a titanic slingshot.

:: :: :: ::

Joker, pilot of the Normandy kept an eye on the glowing console in front of him as he prepared for the ship to decelerate again. "Thrusters... check. Navigation... check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online." His experienced eyes roamed over the amber displays again. "Drift... just under fifteenhundred K." He announced after seeing that everything was as it's supposed to be.

The turian behind him nodded his head, "fifteenhundred is good. Your captain will be pleased." The Spectre turned around and briskly made his way away from the helm.

Joker leaned around his seat to watch the retreating turian and when he was sure the Spectre was out of earshot he muttered, "I hate that guy."

Kaidan Alenko, who was sitting at the console next to Joker, looked at the pilot dissaprovingly. "Nihlus gave you a compliment," he paused as if thinking, "so you hate him?"

Joker scowled, "Remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's good." The bearded pilot said irritatedly. "I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible!" The offended pilot explained.

Behind the two, Commander Shepard, chuckled to himself. Joker was an interesting addition to their crew, it seemed he tried to make the life of all his officers as difficult as possible, greying hairs and shortening lifespans by the mere power of words.

The N7 stepped forward, leaning on the pilots chair. "Hmm..." "and here was me thinking that our guest was making huge progress in human-turian relations... you know... planning sleepovers and singing 'ring-a-ring-of-roses'."

Kaidan barely suppressed a his laughter, pretending to cough. Joker just grinned, "anything to further the human race, Commander" he said. His nimble hands flying across the ships controls.

"Keep talking like that and the Terra-Firma Party will send you a personal invitation to join them in making xeno lives difficult." Shepard replied.

"Woah! Hold it there, sir. I prefer not having all that pro-human rubbish shoved up my arse, sitting in this chair is hard enough as it is." Joker complained in a pained voice. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me Paranoid." He said glancing at the expanse of stars out of the viewports.

Kaidan, having gotten his breath back from laughing replied in kind, "You're paranoid. The council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment." The black-haired marine reasoned, seeming somewhat irritated once again.

"Yeah, that's the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story." Joker tapped his head to emphasise his point, but stopped when he saw the glare Kaidan was giving him.

Shepard stepped back from the chair, "I agree with Joker on this one, they don't send Spctres on shakedown runs."

Joker nodded, "There is more going on here than the Captain is letting on."

The Intercom on the helm came to life, "_Joker! Status report._" Captain Anderson's voice bellowed over the small speaker.

Joker sighed in resignation, and mumbled something about a speaking devil under his breath. "Just cleared the mass relay, Captain, stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid," the pilot said, raising his voice, after checking the amber displays.

"_Good. Find a comm buoy and link into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to the Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime_." The Captain's voice transmitted over the intercom again.

Joker rolled his eyes, "Aye, aye Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way." The pilot warned.

"_He's already here, Lieutenant._" The Captain growled. Causing Joker to shake his head, while Kaidan gave him a 'you asked for it' look. "_Tell Commender Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing._" Anderson continued.

Joker rolled his eyes again, "you hear that commander?"

"Yeah, sounds like I get invited to the Captains personal tea-party. He sounds angry, something must have gone wrong with the mission." The N7 replied.

"Pfft... Captain always sounds like that when he's talking to me." Joker said, as the commander turned to leave.

"I can't possibly imagine why." Shepard could sill make out Kaidan's sarcastic reply, as he headed to the comm room.

As he neared the galaxy display, Shepard overheard Navigator having a heated discussion with Chief Engineer Adams, no doubt the same one that they had been having when he had made his way towards the helm.

"... I'm telling you I just saw him! He marched by like he was on a mission." The flustred navigator said.

"_He's a Spectre, he's always on a mission._" Came the reply from the terminal.

"And now we're getting dragged right along with him!"

"_Relax, Pressly. You're going to give yourself an ulcer_." The Engineer tried to calm down his aged friend as the transmission ended.

The Navigator turned around to find Commander Shepard observing the scene with a amused smirk. Pressly seemed somewhat offended by this and his voice was somewhat stiff when he addressed this superior. "Congratulations, Commander. Looks like we had a smooth run. You heading down to see the captain?"

If Shepard noticed the concealed request he didn't show it, instead he just replied. "I'm on my way to give him a status update right now."

Pressly's curiosity got the better of him and he asked the commander if he could find out what it was they were doing, nodding his assent Shepard replied. "I'll see If I can't wrangle some secrets from our dear commander and our turian friend, maybe I'll finally be allowed to join their secret club."

Pressly frowned at this breach of protocol, but he simply saluted and wished his commander luck.

Just before reaching the comm room, Shepard was delayed again this time by the young corporal whom he had passed earlier and Doctor Chakwas who was reprimanding the enthusiastic soldier.

"I grew up on Eden Prime, Doc. It's not the kind of place Spectres visit. There is something Nihlus isn't telling us about this mission." The energetic Corporal Jenkins said.

"That's crazy. The captain is in charge here. He wouldn't take orders from a Spectre" The elderly woman reasoned.

"Not his choice, Doc. Spectres don't answer to anyone. They can do whatever they want. Kill anyone who gets in their way." The young male tried to explain.

The older woman was not convinced, "Ha! You watch too many spy vids, Jenkins."

The hopeful Corporal turned to Shepard, "what do you think, Commander? We won't be staying on Eden Prime too long, will we? I'm looking for some real action!"

The Doctor butted in, "I sincerely hope you're kidding Corporal. Your 'real action' usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary."

You need to calm down, Corporal. A good soldier stays cool, even under fire. Besides, who says Nihlus didn't just tag along to get a nice tan on one of those famous beaches of your home-world." Shepard replied, chuckling as he tried to imagine the stiff-necked turian stretched out on a beach with a Martini in his tree fingered hand.

Jenkins did not seem to catch the joke, and tried to excuse himself, "Sorry Commander. But this waiting is killing me, I've never been on a mission like this before. Not with a spectre on board!" The joung soldier talked faster as he got exited again.

The Commander sighed, this was futile, "Just treat this like every other assignment you've had and everything will work out."

Jenkins carried on, " Easy for you to say. You proved yourself during the Blitz. Everybody knows what you can do. This is my big chance. I need to show the brass what I can do!

"Corporal, you're young. You still have a whole career ahead of you. Don't do something stupid to mess it up." Shepard frowned at the soldier in front of him.

Jenkins seemed to be oblivious of the warning, "Don't worry sir. I'm not going to screw this up."

Shepard excused himself from the marine and Doctor and finally made it to the comm room. The comm room was where the ground teams were briefed and debriefed, also it was where Important messages were relayed to the captain and his crew, via a large holo-projector on the far side of the room.

This is where Nihlus was standing, the proud turian turned when Shepard entered the room. "Commander Shepard," he said in greeting, "I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk."

Shepard was surprised at the sudden verbosity of the Spectre, usually he would only grunt a greeting or ignore his presence completely. The Commander was also surprised that despite the numerous delays, he was still here before the Captain. His reply betrayed his curiosity, "What about?"

Nihlus turned back to the holo-projector, where an image of Eden Prime was displayed. "I'm interested in this world we're going to," he paused as if thinking, "Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful."

Shepard was immediately suspicious, but he played along, "They say it's a paradise."

"Yes..." the turian responded, "a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe." The reptilian alien turned back to the Commander. "Eden Prime has become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it? Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them." The spectre gave Shepard a questioning gaze. "But how safe is it really?"

This question seemed to imply something more than mere curiosity, "Do you know something?" The N7 replied with his own question.

Nihlus crossed hid arms and smirked at Shepard. "Is the Alliance truly ready for this?" The turian queried with a raised brow.

Both men turned to see Captain Anderson walk into the room. "I think it's about time we told the commander what's really going on." the captain said to the turian, as he made his way to the holographic image. He was wearing his dress uniform as always, Shepard wondered if the man ever took it off. His aged face reflected years of combat experience and he had his hair shaved short, like his XO, both of them argued that it was more practical and easy to maintain.

Nihlus moved to stand next to the Captain. "This mission is far more than a simple shakedown-run." The turian stated.

Shepard looked from one to the other and nodded. " I figured there was something you weren't telling us, there is quite a bit of scuttlebutt about what our Spectre here is really here for." The commander thought, that that was the most diplomatic reply he could come up with in the situation.

Captain Anderson looked at the XO, with a slight frown. "Don't forget Commander, you're the one whose supposed to keep rumours from spreading too far." the Captain cleared his throat and continued, "We're making a covert pick up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational.

"There must be a reason you didn't tell me about this, sir." The human soldier pointed out.

Anderson rubbed his forehead, "This comes down from the top commander." He looked the Commander in the eye, "Information is strictly on a need to know basis. A research team on Eden Prime uncovered some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean." At this last part Shepard's face betrayed his surprise.

He shifted his weight and faced the others again. "What else can you tell me?"

Anderson quickly described how important this was to further humanity and that the last time such a discovery was made human technology was jumped forward by twohundred years. Then he continued, "But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study."

Nihlus continued, "Obviously, this goes beyond mere human interests, Commander. This discovery could affect every species in council space." Little did the Spectre know how true these words were.

Assuming that this was why the turian was aboard, Shepard replied. "It never hurts to have a few extra hands on board."

Nihlus nodded at this, but continued. "The beacon is not the only reason I'm here, Shepard."

Anderson gave the reason, "Nihlus wants to see you in action Commander. He's here to evaluate you as a candidate for the Spectres."

Shepard grinned, "Guess that explains why I bump into him every time I turn around."

If the Captain noticed the humour in Shepard's comment, he did not show it. "The Alliance has been pushing for this for along time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council. The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far humanity has come."

Nihlus nodded, drawing Shepard's attention to him. "You held off an entire enemy assault during the Blitz, single-handed. You showed not only courage but also incredible skill. That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres." The turian explained.

This sudden announcement rendered Shepard speechless, when he finally found his voice all he could say was, "Just tell me what I have to do." Shepard knew now exactly how Jenkins was feeling.

Nihlus seemed content with this answer and continued, "I need to see your skill for myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together."

"You'll be in charge of the ground team, secure the beacon and get it to the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission." Captain Anderson emphasised this by hitting his fist into the palm of his hand.

Shepard saluted, "Just give the word, Captain."

Anderson nodded, "We should be getting close to Eden..."

The Captain was interrupted by Joker's voice over the intercom. "Errm... _Captain! We've got a problem._"

Anderson dark skin paled as much as it could, "What's wrong, Joker?"

Jokers voice seemed worried, "_Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!_"

"Bring it up on screen," Anderson ordered as the tree men in the conference room turned to look at the holo-display.

The screen flickers alive, on it is shown a camera recording.

_The sky of Eden Prime is darkened by numerous black wreaths of smoke, in the distance gunfire sounds, as the dull thud of grenades going off indicate that things are far from safe on the colony._

_The camera turns down as gunfire sounds nearby, a squad of marines is shown taking cover and and returning fire on an unknown foe. Suddenly a white clad female marine breaks from her cover and knocks down the person holding the camera, shouting at him to get down._

_The transmission continues to show the battling marines, when an officer comes up to the camera. "We are under attack!" The man shouts, "taking heavy casualties." He ducks, as several bullets ricochet of the rock he is hiding behind. "We can't... (static)... argh! (static)...-eed evac! They came out of nowhere"_

_Something hits the officer from behind and the gunfire of the marines slowly dies down, as they all stare at something in the sky._

_The camera turns to look at what the marines are staring at, out of the dust and smoke filled sky looms a massive ship, mechanical arms protruding from it giving off eerie red energies. Then a monstrous screeching sound and the transmission cuts off._

The three watching the transmission stare at the screen, but nothing more shows itself but static. Then Joker's voice comes over the intercom again, "_Everything cuts out over that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing._" The pilot's voice sounds disbelieving.

Anderson snapped out of his reverie and barked an order to the pilot. " Reverse and hold at 38.5"

Joker does as he's told and an image of the strange ship appears on the holo-display. Those in the comm room study the picture and eventually the Captain makes another order. "Status report."

Joker seemed to have recovered from his shock and his voice had regained that cocky edge to it. "Seventeen minutes out Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area."

Anderson placed his arms behind his back and replied, "Take us in Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated."

" A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon." Nihlus said turning to the Captain of the Normandy.

Anderson nodded, "Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold." He said to the Spectre, turning to address Shepard he said. "Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit-up, Commander. You're going in."

:: :: :: ::

The sleek silhouette of the Normandy made it's way closer to the Earth-like planet. Joker's voice sounded over the general intercom, "_Engaging stealth systems._" As the Alliance craft neared it's destination, Joker remarked on the terrain below, "_Somebody was doing some serious digging here Captain._" oblivious to their true objective here.

In the hold of the Normandy, Captain Anderson was giving the ground team their final instructions. "Your team is the muscle in this operation, Commander." He said raising his voice above the noise of the Normandy's engines. "Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."

Kaidan seemed uncomfortable and Shepard indicated he should speak. "What about survivors, Captain?"

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon is your top priority."Anderson stated.

Kaidan nodded and then Joker's voice came over the intercom. "_Approaching drop point one._" Jenkins seemed to have calmed down from his earlier bout of anticipation and queried the turian. "Nihlus, you're coming with us?"

"I move faster on my own." The turian replied as he checked his weapon and jumped out of the Normandy.

"Nihlus will scout on ahead." Captain Anderson explained. " He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence."

The three marines saluted as Shepard assured the captain that they had the Spectre's back. Then Joker's voice announced that they were approaching drop point two, and the marines collected themselves for landfall.

_I based Shepard's sense of humour on Alastair's._

_Everything belongs to Bioware_


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: From beyond the Veil**

The three sets of boots hit the ground simultaneously, the dust kicked up by the Normandy obscuring the vision of the three marines before it settled. Shepard gave the signal for them to form up and indicated that they should be on the look-out.

The squad had hardly covered any ground when Jenkins indicated that he had seen movement between some rocks ahead of them. Slowly a bulbous shape emerged from in between the boulders and Shepard gestured that the two other men stand down.

Kaidan squinted through his dusty visor, wiped it and stared again at the creatures. "What the hell are those?" He blurted out before he could stop himself. Jenkins looked at the more experienced boitic with a grin on his young features. "Gas bags, don't worry they're harmless."

They continued down their selected path and the effects of the assault became apparent. The sudden good humour left Jenkins in an instant as a frightening sight greeted their eyes. In the distance were numerous sky-scrapers, rising out of the agricultural farmland like massive spears of metal.

The farmland was being ravaged by uncontrolled fires, the buildings sporting numerous plumes of black smoke and the occasional flare of weaponry. The sound of gunfire was heard in the distance, but with every passing second frequency of this decreased. Jenkins could not grasp what had happened to his home-planet, the shock on his face becoming more and more apparent. "Oh, gods. What happened here?" His voice seemed to tremble as he took the sight in.

Shepard signalled for his squad to hold their positions as he scanned the area, something didn't feel right. The Commander ordered Jenkins to move forward and for Alenko to cover him, Jenkins hoisted his rifle and silently made his way forward. Shepard tilted his head, the feeling of unease didn't leave him, something was wrong. The N7 stepped forward to order Jenkins to find cover when two drones came around the rock formation ahead of the Corporal, mechanical reflexes not hesitating to open fire on the exposed human. Anti-infantry rounds slammed into the younger marine's kinetic barriers, quickly depleting his armours energy supply and tearing through the body-armour as if it were paper.

The Stricken marine let our a cry of pain and surprise as his shredded body crumpled to the ground.

Kaidan reacted quicker and he found a cover while the drones were preoccupied with the other marine. Shepard stepped out from behind the boulder that was hiding him, locked his sights on the machines as rage flooded his veins. The modified assault rifle flared to life. Chemically coated slugs chewing through the armour of the drones as the bullet-storm overwhelmed their meagre shields.

Once the drones were reduced to piles of shrapnel, circuitry sparking on the ground, Kaidan made his way forward to Jenkins' lifeless body. Assessing the damage he turned to his now somewhat calmer Commander. "Ripped right through his shields. Never had a chance." The Lieutenant reported.

Shepard wanted rub the tension from his temples, but the helmet he was wearing prevented him from doing this. He was struggling with the idea that the enthusiastic young marine was gone, never having achieved his dream of being recognised by those higher in the ranks. The N7 promised himself that Jenkins' sacrifice would not be in vain. Turning to Kaidan he nodded his head.

"We'll see that he receives a proper service once the mission is complete. But I need you to stay focused." Shepard said to Kaidan.

Kaidan nodded understanding that speed was of the essence and that the mission was at stake. "Aye, aye, sir." He affirmed.

The two marines made their way towards the small grove of trees from which the drones seemed to have come. Then their comms chirped to life, Nihlus's voice coming over the speakers. "I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard." Then the turian's voice seemed to take on a steely edge, "A lot of bodies, I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."

The grove of trees had been hiding some drones, but the focused fire of Kaidan and Shepard brought the constructs crashing to the ground. Then the sound of gunfire from nearby caused both men to check their surroundings for any possible assailants. Then from the other side of the trees Shepard detected the distinct sound of someone running. He signalled for Kaidan to take cover behind one of the larger trees, the Commander himself moving to hide behind one of the smaller rocks lying near the edge of the grove.

From a small crevice leading to what must have been the dig site came a marine garbed in medium armour, with a red undersuit and white protective plating. The soldier was obviously female, Shepard's memory flashed back to the distress call. It was the same marine who had ordered the one holding the the camera to take cover.

She was sprinting towards one of the larger rock formations when the whine of drone gyros came up behind her. Diving towards the nearby shelter she drew her sidearm and fired it at the oncoming pursuers while sliding along the ground. Her aim was flawless, the bullets hitting the drones dead on. The machines bursting into shrapnel, their momentum causing the armour, weapon systems and circuitry to clatter across the dusty, sparsely grass-covered ground.

Then Shepard noticed that they were far from alone, a small distance from the woman, stood two machine-like beings holding a weakly struggling colonist over a strange looking tripod. The tripods use became apparent when out of it's centre shut a large spike, impaling the colonist, lifting the now dead body into the air.

The two mechanical soldiers, then noticed the exposed marine who seemed to be frozen in shock by what she had witnessed.

:: :: :: ::

The days events had been tying for Ashley Williams, it had seemed like just another day of proving herself to be worth the attention of the brass, when everything had gone to hell.

Now her squad was dead, she was fighting for her life and what could only be geth were turning the place inside out. What she had just witnessed was horrifying, why display the dead in this manner? Were the synthetics just causing meaningless pain and suffering or was there a more sinister reason behind this casual disregard for life.

Then the strange cyclopean 'hoods' turned her way. Snapping out of her reverie Ashley turned and ran, finally making it behind the rock formation she had been making for. Holstering her sidearm she grabbed the proffered butt of her assault rifle from her weapons rack. Her standard-issue rife was her best friend, it didn't make side comments about her ancestry or sneer down at her with disdain. It simply did as it was told, countless hours at the shooting range had made this relationship a close one.

"We shall go down fighting, my dearest." She whispered to her weapon. Then when she estimated the geth to be close enough she stepped out of her cover to face her death and take the god-dammed bastards with her.

Ashley pressed down on the trigger as the rifle burst to life, the recoil a comforting press against her shoulder. The advanced kinetic barriers of the geth flared to life, slowing down the oncoming slugs to simply bounce off the metallic body of the synthetic soldier. The too-perfect movements of the machine soldiers, smoothly allowing them to bring their rifles to bear on her.

This is it. This is the end. The thoughts flashed through her mind as her weapon's heat-coils discharged, overheated from the over zealous assault the marine had unleashed. Gunfire sounded, Ashley was surprised, she thought dying would be more painful than this.

She watched, trance-like as super-accelerated rounds punched into the light-bulb head of one of the geth, kinetic barriers overwhelmed as caustic slugs chewed through the complex circuitry that was the geth brain. The other geth, the one she had shot at, suddenly lifted off the ground and drifted into the air weightlessly. Ashley simply stared as a wave of dark energy rippled through the air from behind her, smashing into the synthetics body, slamming it against the cliff-wall behind it. Crushing it's vital systems.

All of this happened as if time had slowed down, then reality came crashing back to claim it's place. Ashley realized she wasn't dead, the geth didn't even have a chance to fire their weapons. She turned around. Striding from behind cover supplied by the small grove of trees on the hill were two men. One was wearing the light, tight fitting armour of a biotic. The other the heavy armour of the more practical soldiery, but his was adorned by a crimson stripe, flanked by two white lines down his right arm. The iconic N7 emblazoned on his breastplate.

Something about the N7 nagged at the back of her mind, had she seen him somewhere before? But she hadn't ever met any N7 before, so it must have bee something else. Recalling that these men were responsible for her still being alive, she saluted smartly. "Thanks for the help, sir. I didn't think I was going to make it."

The man saluted back. He saluted to her! Never before had a superior saluted to her. Hoping to learn more about this enigmatic figure she continued. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the two-twelve. You the one in Charge here, sir?"

The N7 gave her a grim smile, "As much as one can be in charge of one man." He said, "I'm Commander John Shepard of the SSV Normandy and my gravity-altering friend here is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, also of the Normandy."

He paused as if assessing her, she noticed his roaming eyes and felt a blush creeping up her her neck. She knew that modern combat armour was designed for mobility and speed, but the tight fitting armour usually revealed very much of the wearer's body-structure.

The N7 looked her in the eye, his piercing blue eyes seeming to burrow into her soul. "Are you wounded, Williams?" He asked, his voice sincere.

Ashley finally recalled why he seemed so familiar. He was _the_ Captain Shepard, the one who had single-handedly saved Elysium during the Blitz. Standing before her was a legend, one of the few who had the honour of receiving the Star of Terra. The greatest honour in the Alliance Military. And he had saluted to _her_.

Recalling that he had asked her something she quickly stammered, "A few scrapes and burns. Nothing serious." She then recalled her squad, "The others weren't so lucky." Then the events crashed down on her and she blurted out, "Oh, man..." Gathering herself she continued, "We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit." Suddenly seeming tired she continued, "We tried to get off a distress call but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

Shepard seemed to notice her discomfort but asked nonetheless, "Where's the rest of your squad?"

This was the question she had been dreading, taking a deep breath she continued, "We tried to double back to the beacon. But we walked into an ambush. I don't think any of the others..." Her voice seemed to get stuck in her throat. "I think I'm the only one left."

:: :: :: ::

Shepard noticed the Chief's lapse. Picking up on it he continued. "This isn't your fault, Williams. You couldn't have done anything to save them."

Ashley looked at him gratefully. "Yes, sir. We held our position as long as we could." The sorrow returned to her eyes. "Until the geth overwhelmed us..."

Kaidan brow furrowed at this last part. "Geth? They haven't been seen outside the veil in nearly two-hundred years. Why are they here now?"

Williams shrugged. "They must have come for the beacon. The dig site is just over that rise. It might still be there."

Shepard nodded, he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. But with Jenkins' death his squad was under strength. But this Williams seemed promising. "We could use your help, Williams."

Ashley seemed surprised at this request but recovered quickly. "Aye, aye, sir." Her face took on a grim expression, "It's time for payback." She said through gritted teeth.

The three marines carefully made their way towards the dig site, keeping to the cover of the surrounding rocks, wary of any possible opposition. Ashley signalled that they were getting close when a geth stepped out from behind one of the piles of rock.

Kaidan promptly cast a warp field around the synthetic. The gravitational fields ripping the machine asunder. Alerted by the demise of one of their fellows, several geth shock troopers returned fire as others threw up hexagonal kinetic barriers. Ashley leaned around her cover and fired controlled bursts into the more exposed geth. Shepard launched a grenade into their midst. Maiming two of the constructs and throwing another into the cliff-wall. The shock-wave emitted by the grenade caused the deployed shields to overload and fizzle out, allowing Kaidan to land several devastating shots with his shotgun before the remaining synthetics were able to take cover.

Ashley stared in surprise as Shepard burst form his cover, charging up to one of the geth before swinging the butt of his rifle into the hooded head with such force that the artificial muscle holding it forward snapped and the whole head bent over backwards.

Not satisfied with mauling only one of the invaders, Shepard turned to kick another in the chest, the kinetic barriers flickering, as if not sure if the alien projectile was fast enough to require damping. But where the kick lacked a bullets' velocity it made up in force and the geth stumbled backwards, it's sensors not used to suck a primal attack. Before it could recover, caustic rounds chewed into it's chest from a point blank range.

The other two marines walked up to Shepard. "Wow, sir. I didn't know you were one for getting up close and personal" Ashley said as she approached the N7. Shepard looked at her with a sly grin on his battle-hardned features. "Up close and personal is the way I like it best." Ashley stared at him, then turned away to hide her glowing face.

Kaidan looked at the two and cleared his throat loudly. "Erm... pardon my intrusion, but weren't we supposed to do something about a beacon?"

Shepard looked at him and nodded. "Trust a biotic to make you aware of the gravity of the situation."

The marines made their way around the corner from which the geth had come and came to the centre of the dig-site. Still partially covered in rock, dirt and dust from the excavation rose an alien structure, it's prothean origin apparent.

Kaidan suddenly spoke up, "That man was still alive when they stuck him onto that spike." Ashley voice was brittle with rage when she replied. "Killing us isn't enough. The geth want us to suffer." Shepard turned to her and voiced his opinion. "I'm not so sure. Geth are AI and their thought process is a logical one, I don't think it has anything to do with blood-lust." Ashley just stared ahead, keeping silent.

The squad made it's way towards the centre of the prothean structure when it became apparent that the beacon was not there. They checked the area for hostiles after which Ashley broke the the silence. "This is the dig site. The beacon was right here. It must have been moved." Kaidan glanced at her, "By who? Our side? Or the geth?"

Ashley continued to search the area for sings of the beacon when she replied. "Hard to say. Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp."

Scavenging what little equipment there was and turning it to Omni-gel, the three marines made their way up the ramp that lead to the research camp. The first settlement that Shepard and his squad encountered, proved to have been hid as hard as the rest of the colony seemed to have been. Several prefabricated shelters had been set up, by those working at the dig-site. But only one looked like it was still intact, the others were either torn up and blackened by explosions or black smoke curled out of the shattered windows and doors.

Ashley turned to look at the Commander. "Looks like they hit the camp pretty hard." Kaidan suspiciously looked about. "It's a good place for an ambush. Keep your guard up."

Among crates of equipment, stood four of the spikes that the geth had impaled colonists on. Shepard once again had the feeling of wrongness, not willing to risk his squad's safety again he ordered Ashley and Kaidan to take cover by the crates.

Drawing his shotgun from his weapon-pack he slowly made his way towards the spikes. The colonists impaled seemed to have mutated, blue veins of circuitry sticking through their skin at several points. As Shepard drew nearer to the spikes they shuddered and the spike retracted, leaving the husks of what had once been colonists lying on the tripod. Electricity seemed to surge through the mutilated bodies and one by one they came to life.

Kaidan's face paled "Oh gods! They're still alive!" Ashley's horror was as apparent. "What did the geth do to them?"

Shepard watched this in silence, finally he brought his gun to bear. "Open fire!" He yelled over his shoulder. The three guns barked to life. The husks lurched forward, trying to get to Shepard. But each time one came too close, the scatter-gun roared the multiple projectiles tearing through the unarmoured bodies.

Once pacified the husks sparked with energy and exploded in a shower of electricity overpowering the kinetic-barriers of Shepard, but by the time this happened there was nothing to take advantage of the Commander's vulnerable state.

Kaidan inspected the ground where one of the husks had overloaded. "Now we know what these spikes are for, turning our own dead against us." Shepard gritted his teeth, "Never thought anybody'd get it right to make zombies."

As the static in Shepard's comm cleared, he heard Nihlus speaking. "Change of plans, Shepard. There's a small space-port up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."

Shepard acknowledged this and relayed the update to his squad-mates. The marines made their way towards the intact shelter and Ashley inspected it. "That door. It's closed. Security lock's engaged." Shepard chuckled at this, and at the questioning look from his squad-mates he replied. "What? I was just thinking of other times where somebody pointed out the obvious." Ashley blushed in embarrassment.

Kaidan moved forward and used his Omni-tool to unlock the door's seal. As the door opened, Shepard heard a frightened gasp. Then from then when he entered the shelter he saw the source of the sound. Cowering in the corner of the room were two scientists. One was a woman with short red hair who seemed to be in her forties, the other was a man with a dark receding hairline.

"Humans!" The woman cried, "Thank the Maker!" Suspiciously the male looked at the Commander. "Hurry! Close the door! Before they come back!"

Shepard looked around the room, looking at the woman he replied. "Don't worry. We'll protect you."

It seemed like a only a child would believe this but it had the desired effect and the scientists seemed to relax somewhat. The woman looked at her companion then at Shepard. "Thank you. I think we'll be okay now. It looks like everyone's gone."

Ashley stepped from behind Shepard and confronted the scientist. "You're Doctor Warren, the one in charge of the excavation. Do you know what happened to the beacon?"

Dr. Warren sighed. "It was moved to the space-port this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to pack up the camp." She gestured to he companion. "When the attack came, the marine held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives to save us."

Her companion interrupted her. "No one is saved. The age of humanity is ended. Soon only ruin and corpses will remain."

Shepard studied Doctor Manuel a bit closer after this outburst, he seemed to be shaking slightly and his eyes jumped around the room erratically. Addressing Doctor Warren he asked her, "What's wrong with your assistant?"

Dr. Warren Wrung her hands, "Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit unstable. Genius and madness re two sides of the same coin." She explained.

After this statement Manuel launched into a tirade about how everything was coming to an end, and how all were doomed. The typical prophet of doom rant. Dr. Warren looked at the marines apologetically. "I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack."

Taking his leave of the two Shepard turned to Ashley. "Williams, take us to the space-port."

Just before leaving the shelter Manuel blurted out again. "You can't stop it. Nobody can stop it. Night is falling. The darkness of eternity." Dr. Warren moved to her assistant and said harshly. "Hush, Manuel." Somewhat softer she continued, "Go lie down. You'll feel better once the medication kicks in."

On leaving the camp the tree marines headed in the direction Ashley had pointed them, just after clearing the camp a gunshot was heard from the next valley.

:: :: :: ::

Nihlus was worried, things had gone wrong right from the start. This was supposed to be a simple 'get this and bring it here' mission. Instead the colony had been invaded, the beacon lost and geth crawling al over the place.

So far he had been able to avoid their detection but the gruesome display at the encampment he had found had chilled him to the core. Bodies hoisted high on metal spikes; soldiers, civilians the machines spared no-one.

Nearing the space-port more of the gruesome spikes greeted him. Among the standard supply crates, stood metallic grey-blue containers some open and empty others still sealed tight. Seeing a figure among the crates, the Spectre took cover.

Shepard had done well so far, eliminating those he got in contact with and even recruiting someone to fill the hole left in his squad after that Corporal had died. An unfortunate loss but such was war.

Nihlus prepared to eliminate the geth he was expecting on the platform ahead of him. Smoothly sweeping around the pillar he had been hiding behind he brought up his rifle to be confronted not by a geth but by a turian.

"Saren?" The legendary Spectre was pacing on the platform as if waiting for him. Saren turned around to look at his fellow Spectre.

Saren looked different his one arm had been replaced by a synthetic copy of the original, metal tubes sprouted from his body like the muscles underneath. But the greatest change had happened in the face, both of Saren's eyes had been replaced by cybernetic copies, which glowed with a cold blue light. The turian's mandibles had also been augmented with tiny cybernetic structures.

Nihlus found that the Spectre in front of him looked more like a geth than anything else. "This isn't your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?"

Saren walked up to Nihlus and companionably grabbed his shoulder as if encouraging him. "The Council thought you could use some help on this one." The augmented turian almost purred.

Suddenly all of Nihlus' doubts vanished. Saren was a friend, the Council had known he would need help and had sent their best. Somewhere in the back of his head a voice continued to nag him that something was wrong; the Council didn't know what was happening on Eden Prime, why did Saren look so wrong? Why am I so relaxed?

Dismissing these seemingly unimportant thoughts Nihlus continued as he returned the rifle back to it's rack. "I wasn't expecting to find geth here. The situation's bad."

Saren walked behind the other turian, while he did this he said, "Don't worry. I've got it under control."

Nihlus was relieved to hear this. Saren would take care of it; why was there the sound of a weapon unfolding? I could go get Shepard and leave, does Saren know about Shep...

:: :: :: ::

Shepard and his companions froze when they heard the gunshot. Kaidan turned to Ashley and she shrugged. "One shot, could be a sniper."

When the marines crested the rise they saw a massive ship take off from further in the colony, great clouds of red gas being emitted from the ships aft, occasional streaks of glowing energy jumping off the hull like lightning. The soldiers stared, "What is that? Off in the distance." Ashley sucked in air as she realised what it was. "It's a ship. Look at the size of that it!"

When the massive spacecraft had ascended into the clouds covering the sky. The squad looked down on the space-port. Shepard turned to the two following him, "Okay, we don't know what's down there, but with any luck Nihlus has already cleared it out if not expect a bit more resistance than what we've encountered so far."

Turning to scan the valley the N7 drew his Sniper-rifle, ordering the other two to make a controlled decent into the valley he steadied himself against a boulder zooming in with the scope he scanned the valley. Finding no snipers he followed the progress of Kaidan and Ashley.

When they neared the complex, a nearby set of spikes retracted as the husks came awake. This alerted some geth who were working with the alien crates in the vicinity, these promptly drew their weapons and opened fire.

The boom of Shepard's rifle seemed not to bother the geth in the least as they moved to end Kaidan and Ashley. But the N7's elevated position gave him an edge that shortened the battle considerably. While Kaidan created a singularity field in front of the husks, Ashley used her assault rifle to pick off the hapless floating bodies. Shepard's rifle rang out again, the 50mm rounds tearing through barriers and armour alike, neatly finishing off the conventional geth troopers.

The squad gathered halfway up the valley's basin when a voice came from the storage containers nearby. It turned out to be some frightened farmers who had taken refuge there when the ship showed up. The Commander calmed them down and was rewarded with a pistol and the information that there had been smuggling in the space-port before the attack happened.

As the farmers fled to another shelter, Shepard and his squad made their way to the space-port upon arriving they found the body of Nihlus sprawled on the platform. Shepard bent down to see how the turian had died when Ashley called out. "Something's moving! Over there over behind those crates!" She shouted gesturing in the direction she had detected movement.

"Wait!" cried a panicked voice from where Ashley had pointed out the disturbance. "Don't - - Don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human.

Shepard breathed out a sigh of relief, he had almost shot the poor bastard. "Sneaking up on us like that almost got you killed!" He barked.

The frightened man stammered an apology. "I... I'm sorry. I was hiding. From those creatures." Shepard holstered his weapon, although not truly willing his squad-mates followed his example.

The man continued, "My name is Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one killed him."

Shepard exchanged surprised looks with his squad. He encouraged Powell to continue. "I need to know more, I need to know how Nihlus died."

Taking his cue Powell continued, "The other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I think they knew each other." Powell took a deep breath and continued, trying to keep his voice steady. "Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down and Saren killed him." The man hung his head. "Shot him right in the back," taking another breath he continued. "I'm just luck he didn't see me behind the crates.

Shepard wondered where this was leading to, First a prothean beacon, a strange ship, then geth, now this _Saren_. "Where'd Saren go after he killed Nihlus?" He asked the nervous survivor.

Powell looked up from his shoes and replied. "He jumped on the cargo train and headed over to the other platform. Probably going after that beacon." The man continued talking about how the beacon was bad luck and how he was lucky to make it. It also turned out that he had been part of the smuggling circle at the docks, Shepard had to forcefully hold Ashley back to stop her from attacking the frightened dock-worker. The N7 then managed to convince the man to hand over some grenades and a weapon mod, which he gave to Ashley. Having all he needed the Commender continued. "We need to find that beacon before it's too late."

Powell glad to be rid of Ashley's accusing stare, recommended they use the cargo train; before he ran in the opposite direction.

:: :: :: ::

Kaidan pushed up his visor to rub the sweat from his eyes as he finished disarming the last bomb. Whoever this Saren was, he was a cold hearted bastard. Killing a supposed friend and trying to blow up an entire colony. This guy really was missing a larger section of grey matter that encompassed any emotions.

The boitic had never had such a taxing mission before, all of his abilities had been pushed to the limit. There was sure to be a migraine when everything caught up to him, hell this Shepard guy had a way of doing things.

He looked up to see the Gunnery Chief firing a burst into the group of geth ahead. He wondered what the young woman was thinking. He couldn't imagine losing the illusion of peace in such a short time, survive against all odds and then still join this crazy N7 in finding some ancient relic. But that was none of his business. Checking his pistol he leaned around the corner to see what was happening. Ducking back just before bullets whizzed by where his head had been he gathered dark energy in one hand, jumped out of cover and launched the boitic throw at the bunched geth. He grunted with satisfaction, seeing the dark energy smash the hapless machines against a wall.

Then suddenly Shepard was in their midst, modified assault-rifle raining havoc among the synthetics as the Commander lashed out with his weapon and filling artificial bodies with caustic bullets.

The skirmish ended quickly after that as Ashley walked to each body and put a bullet into it's 'light-bulb'.

They continued to the landing of the space-port and were confronted with more geth and husks. Shepard motioned for Kaidan to take out the two on the right, Ashley the husks and himself the ones behind the husks. They all nodded their assent and launched into action.

Kaidan biotocally lifted the geth assigned to him and pumped slugs into them with his pistol.

Ashley turned her now modified assault-rifle on the husks. "Hell-yeah, burn!" She screamed with tears in her eyes, as the incendiary bullets set those she once knew alight.

Shepard once again proved how unpredictable he was by swinging over the railing and landing on the platform on which the geth were. Nimbly dodging the burning husks, whose clumsy attacks whistled through the air, he ran up against one of the geth, shoved his rifle under it's hood and blew out what might have been the artificial equivalent of brains. Circuitry an blue cooling fluid flying into the air.

Kinetic-barriers flared to life, as the other geth opened fire on Shepard. But the N7 wasn't interested in taking cover instead he dived to the side, brought up his rifle and peppered the geth with bullets until it's shields died, and it's torso was a hunk of slag, melting onto the platform.

:: :: :: ::

Shepard walked up to the glowing pillar. Activated his comms and contacted the Normandy. "Normandy, beacon secure. Request immediate evac..."

While Shepard was in contact with the Normandy Ashley and Kaidan decided to inspect the prothean relic a little closer.

Kaidan looked at the pillar in awe. "This is amazing. Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable."

Ashley inspected the beacon, it was emitting some king of energy field, a soft humming coming from it's core. "It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up." She paused thinking. "Something must have activated it." She reasoned.

Kaidan had moved to talk with Shepard about Jenkins. Ashley moved closer to the beacon when it suddenly flared, dragging the marine closer to it.

Shepard noticed the white-clad soldier struggling and pushed Kaidan aside, running to Ashley he grabbed her about the waist and bodily threw her from the beacon's field when the drawing force lifted him into the air.

Ashley tried to get to him but Kaidan spurred by some natural instinct, grabbed her. "No don't touch him, It's too dangerous"

Shepard's mind seemed to open. It was like a dam releasing all it's water a once. His mind was flooded with images of Death.

_Death... Chaos... Destruction... Burning cities... Burning planets... A burning galaxy..._

_Death... Synthetics killing... Slaughtering... Chaos... The end of civilization... Destruction... Machines... Death... Chaos... Destruction... Nothing._

_Everything belongs to Bioware_


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Of Friends and Foes**

A massive craft blocked out the stars as it glided through space, the occasional red stream of energy escaping from it's hull. Sovereign, the name seemed to fit perfectly: massive, alone, frighteningly powerful. Aboard the alien ship an asari Matriarch made her way to the hub of the ship. Renowned for their wisdom and experience, Matriarchs were at the pinnacle of asari society. Passing under another of the eerie arches that served as doors, the Matriarch stepped up behind what seemed to be a throne of sorts and cleared her throat politely.

Reclining on the throne was Saren,his cybernetically enhanced body seeming to grow out of it. Upon hearing of the Matriarch's presence he nodded to indicate she continue.

The blue skinned woman was dressed in a severe dark robe, one usually worn by asari priestesses, her crest neatly tucked into an elegant, somewhat threatening, headdress. She clasped her hands behind her back as she continued in a monotone voice. "We identified the ship that touched down on Eden Prime. The _Normandy_. A human Alliance vessel." She paused after stating each point, almost robotically.

Saren pinched the bridge of his metallic nose with the synthetic arm, trying to remain calm.

"It was under the command of Captain Anderson. They managed to save the colony" The Matriarch continued in a lifeless voice.

Saren tried to control the flare of anger and hatred upon hearing the human's name and what he had done. Barely controlling his voice the turian queried. "And the beacon?"

"One of the humans may have used it." The Matriarch continued as before.

Saren lost it. Roaring he launched from his seat and flung a nearby sculpture to the floor. Turning around he grabbed the asari around the mouth. The asari didn't flinch, seemingly devoid of all emotion.

Breathing heavily, Saren relaxed and let go. Walking back to his throne, he turned around just before seating himself again.

"This human, must be eliminated." He said, his deep voice dripping with venom.

:: :: :: ::

The real world swam into existence and with it an ear-splitting headache. Shepard groaned and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear the sleep from them.

"Doctor? Doctor Chakwas? I think he's waking up." The voice was familiar but Shepard couldn't place it, as well as the feeling of loss. There was also a feeling of dread, but he knew exactly where that came from; the dreams.

The Commander strained his aching muscles to get himself into a sitting position. He was in the _Normandy_ infirmary, the distinct smell of a medically sterilized environment reaching his nose. Doctor Chakwas came up to him, a slightly worried frown on her face.

Then it came back, like an onrushing tidal-wave. Corporal Jenkins was dead, and entire colony overrun by geth. Hundreds if not thousands dead, their soulless husks mindlessly charging to their doom. At least Williams was safe, wait, wasn't that her voice he had heard upon waking. Why would she be on the _Normandy_?

"You had us worried there, Shepard. How are you feeling?" The Doctor's question snapped the Commander's mind back to the present.

Shepard wanted to ignore the question, but knowing how persistent the doctor could become he simply replied. "Minor throbbing. Nothing Serious."

Suddenly realizing that he had no idea what time it was he continued. "How long was I out?"

The Doctor folded her arms over her chest. "About fifteen hours; something happened down there with the beacon, I think." Her disapproval at Shepard's actions obvious.

"It's my fault." Ashley interjected coming up from behind the Doctor. The marine had changed into regulation BDUs and her hair had been tied into a tight bun, also in regulation style. She obviously did things by the book.

"I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way." Ashley continued, guiltily looking aside.

Shepard noticed her discomfort and resolved to do something about it. "You had no way to know what would happen." Grinning the N7 continued. "For all we knew it was supposed to throw a pie at the nearest passer-by's face."

Ashley grinned, glad that her officer didn't hold it against her, where others surely would.

"Actually, we don't even know if that was what set it off. Unfortunately, we'll never get the chance to find out." The Doctor interrupted the silence.

At the questioning look from Shepard, Ashley launched into explanation. "The beacon exploded. A system overload, maybe." Taking a nervous breath she continued. "The blast knocked you cold. The Lieutenant and I carried you back here to the ship."

"I appreciate it." replied the Commander. Seemingly unused to gratitude, Ashley tried to hide her blush.

"Physically you're fine. But I detected some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta waves." Looking at the nearby medical display she continued. "I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."

The Doctor left the statement hanging, waiting for an affirmation of her data. Shepard sighed, now he would have to repeat the nightmare. Drawing a deep breath the Commander related his experience. "I saw... I'm not sure what I saw. Death. Destruction. Nothing's really clear."

"Hmmm. I better add this to my report. It may..." The Doctor turned in surprise as Captain Anderson entered the room. "Oh, Captain Anderson."

Walking up to the bed on which Shepard was sitting he clasped his hands behind his back. "How's our XO holding up. Doctor?"

"All readings look normal. I'd say the commander's going to be fine." The doctor replied.

Turning to Shepard the captain continued. "Glad to hear it. Shepard, I need to speak with you... in private." As he said this he looked pointedly at Chakwas and Ashley.

Ashley promptly responded, saluting. "Aye, aye, Captain. I'll be in the mess if you need me."

Anderson turned back to Shepard after the two women had left. "Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard, Commander. You sure you okay?" The captain asked, knowing full well how marines tended to treat their injuries.

Shepard looked at Anderson with a different type of pain written across his face. "I don't like soldiers dying under my command." The N7 quietly said, referring to the loss of Jenkins.

"Jenkins wasn't your fault." The captain said placing a comforting hand on Shepard's shoulder. "You did a good job, Shepard." Anderson assured the battle-scarred man in front of him. He was seeing a rare glimpse of Shepard's more emotional side, usually hidden under a façade of strict military protocol.

:: :: :: ::

Ashley left the infirmary feeling very light, dismissing it as being a fault in the artificial gravity she continued to the mess. Once there, she was surprised to see only a few crew members about, usually people gravitated to any places with food. Grabbing a tray from where the synthesizer was located she sat down at the table in the centre of the room and polished the food before going to inspect the lockers.

Then the magnitude of what had happened to her struck her, she leaned against the wall trying to regain the breath that seemed to have fled her lungs. Eden Prime was gone. It would be years before the colony was back to full capacity, all those that she had served with were either dead or far away. Her whole squad had been killed in front of her, one by one falling to the merciless geth. The horrible husks, she had recognised some of those she had destroyed. At least there hadn't been any children, those had probably been quarantined in their day-school centres at the hearts of the towers.

But other, good things had also flattened her. She had been saved by Commander Shepard, hero of Elysium and seemingly the first human who would become a Spectre, from the scuttlebutt she had gathered from the _Normandy's_ crew. The fact that the Captain of the ship had even allowed her to join the team, to serve with such decorated heroes was something she hadn't dreamed of, considering her ancestry.

Then another thought surfaced, but what if they didn't know? When they find out they will surely throw her away like so many others. She would make the most of it while she could. Hearing the hiss of the infirmary door's hydraulics she quickly tried to compose herself.

:: :: :: ::

Ashley was standing by the table in the mess when Shepard came out of the infirmary, after speaking to Anderson, she appeared to be waiting for him so he walked up to her. She seemed troubled but she tried to sound cheerful anyway. "Hey, Commander. I'm glad you're okay. The crew could do with some good news after what happened to Jenkins."

Ashley hadn't known the man personally, but she had been there at his farewell ceremony. Observant of how the crew felt about the loss of the young, enthusiastic soldier, when the coffin was jettisoned into space.

Shepard saw that the marine valued every life even if it was a strangers'. "Jenkins was a valuable part of this crew."

"Part of me feels guilt over what happened. If Jenkins were still alive, I might not be here." The woman replied, revealing what was really bothering her.

Shepard looked her in the eye. "You're a good soldier, Williams. You belong on the Normandy."

Williams seemed to straighten. "Thanks Commander. That means a lot from you. I've never met anyone who was awarded the Star of Terra."

Shepard wasn't proud of his achievement at Elysium, so he quickly changed the subject. "Things were pretty rough down there. Are you okay?"

The sudden change startled Ashley and her reply was somewhat less guarded than she would have liked. "I've seen friends die before. Comes with being a marine. But to see my whole unit wiped out..." She paused, gathering her breath. "And you never get used to seeing dead civilians." The horrid images of husks swimming to the surface of memory. "But things could have been a lot worse if you hadn't shown up." She finally said sounding grateful.

"We couldn't have done it without you Williams." Shepard finally said, this brought a smile to the other marines face.

"Thanks Commander. I have to admit I was a bit worried about being assigned to the _Normandy_. It's nice when someone makes you feel welcome." Ashley said, trying to find the appropriate words to thank her new XO.

Shepard straightened preparing to go to Joker. "I think you're going to fit in here just fine, Williams."

Ashley saluted. "Thanks Commander."

After the conversation with Ashley, Shepard made his way towards the bridge. Crew-members darting looks at their Commander, glad that he had made it off-world relatively unscathed, some even offered condolences for what happened to Jenkins of mentioned how grateful they were to see that he had made back safe. The N7 took it all in stride, cracking jokes and bolstering morale as he went. The Commander's actions didn't go unobserved as Captain Anderson watched from his private terminal how the XO made his way.

:: :: :: ::

Joker felt a presence come up behind him an he glanced over his shoulder to see who it was. Seeing the Commander there he breathed out a sigh of relief. "You have no Idea, sir, How glad I am it's you and not our resident L2. I sometimes wonder if that guy had a titanium rod shoved up his arse as a kid. I much prefer that chick you dragged back with you from Eden Prime."

Shepard chuckled at the pilots brazen comment. "Careful Joker, Williams could lay you on the floor in the space of a heartbeat, if she heard you say that."

"Good thing she's not here then, although I wouldn't mind if she laid me down in other more comfortable places, if you catch my drift." The cocky pilot replied.

Shepard nodded his assent grinning. "I catch it. But now to more serious matters. Captain Anderson wants you to take us in."

Joker flourished his arms grandly. "Good timing, Commander. I was just about to bring us in to the Citadel." Grinning eagerly he continued. "See that taxpayer money at work."

The _Normandy_ hit the mass-relay at a perfect angle, as the galaxy blurred into brilliant iridescent colours. After a brief period stars came back into focus, this time there was the pink sheen of Serpent Nebula blocking out most of them as the _Normandy_ slowed down to normal speeds. From the vacuum bound clouds emerged the Citadel. A massive construction that housed the galaxy's most powerful, most influential and richest. It's five arms housing the billions of mediocre to low-class, while the rich lounged in the circle of the Presidium, that linked the arms together. As the _Normandy_ drew near, most of the available crew rushed to the portholes, many of them never having seen the massive space construct.

Ashley made it to the view-port of helm first, gasping in awe of what she beheld. "Look at the size of that ship!" She exclaimed as she gaped at a massive alien spacecraft that hung in orbit of the Citadel.

Kaidan came up behind her, also staring. "The _Ascension_. Flagship of the Citadel fleet."

"Well, size isn't everything." Joker commented, sounding hurt.

Williams grinned at the bearded man at the helm. "Why so touchy, Joker?"

"I'm just saying you need fire-power, too." The pilot struggled through his response trying not to let his embarrassment become apparent.

Ashley turned back to the view-port. "Look at that monster! It's main gun could rip through the barriers on any ship in the Alliance fleet."

"Good thing it's on our side, then." Kaidan commented.

Joker had turned back to his console, hands flying over the familiar controls. "Citadel Control, this is the _Normandy_ requesting permission to land."

"_Stand by for clearance, Normandy."_ The voice over the speaker replied. _"Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator."_

The Alliance vessel passed by a turian warship as Joker followed the routine protocol. "Roger, Citadel Control. _Normandy_ out."

After a brief pause the speaker beeped back to life. _"Normandy, this is Alliance Tower. Please proceed to dock 422."_

The _Normandy_ gracefully glided through the barrier containing the atmosphere of the hangar and came to a standstill, as the docking panels clamped onto the hull of the ship and the 'gang-walk' extended to the _Normandy's_ airlock.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Politics**

"This is an outrage!" Ambassador Udina's voice broke the peace of the Praesidium's well managed artificial environment. "The Council would step in if the geth attacked a turian colony!"

"The turians don't found colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems, Ambassador." Was the calm reply from the amber hologram of the hooded Salarian Councillor.

The Asari Councillor backed him up by continuing: "Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the Traverse." Her white face markings barely showing on the holo., making it hard to read her expression.

These arguments didn't seem to dissuade Udina from his warpath. "What about Saren? You can't just ignore a rogue Spectre. I demand action!"

"You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador," was the cold reply from the turian councillor. Seemingly deflated at last Udina stayed silent.

The Asari took the opportunity to continue. "Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss the C-Sec. findings at the hearing. Not Before." The meeting adjourned, the images of the three councillors disappeared.

Udina turned to Captain Anderson, Shepard and his squad. They were in the Human Embassy. It was one of the larger embassies, nothing near the grandeur of the council races', but at least they weren't forced to share like the volus and elcor, or located in some obscure tiny office like the Drell and Hanar. It was decorated in a style that seemed to be common in all human business quarters, elegant yet Spartan. The only real appeal was the magnificent view out from the balcony.

"Captain Anderson, I see you brought half your crew with you," the Ambassador said, his voice dripping with bitter sarcasm.

The Captain took Udina's comment in stride, seeming oblivious to the politicians foul mood. "Just the ground team from Eden Prime, in case you had any questions." Ashley looked at Kaidan and Shepard, wondering what they were thinking.

"I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate?" the Ambassador challenged.

"They are." Anderson simply stated. "Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience." He continued.

Udina squeezed the bridge of his nose. "They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason."

"Saren's a threat to every human colony out there. He needs to be stopped. The Council has to listen to us!" Shepard's sudden passionate outburst seemed to anger the Ambassador.

"Settle down Commander. You've already done more than enough to jeopardise your candidacy for the Spectres. The mission on Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done."

_Aha! So that's your angle. You're not happy that the chance of your promotion decreased, _Shepard thought, the reason for the Ambassador's foul mood becoming apparent.

"Instead, Nihlus ended up dead and the beacon was destroyed!" The Ambassador almost shouted.

At this Anderson intervened. "That's Saren's fault, not his!"

"Then we better hope the C-Sec. investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations. Otherwise the Council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres," Udina replied. Turning from the assembled company he made his way towards the door. "Come with me, Captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing. Shepard..." he said looking at the marine, "you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower. Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in." The ambassador finished, obviously not wanting to remain in their company.

As the door hissed shut Ashley breathed a sigh of relief, her irritation apparent. "And that is why I hate politicians."

Shepard turned to his team with a wry smile tugging at the end of his mouth. "Yeah, mess up their chances of ruling the universe and they dump as much bureaucratic, 'I'm too perfect for this to be my fault it's all your fault,' on you as possible. You have no idea how long I spent memorising that speech, with the right emphasis in all the right places."

Ashley laughed loudly drawing a disapproving look from Kaidan. "Let me guess." Ashley volunteered, grinning. "From when he first turned on Anderson."

"Damn. Am I that transparent?" The N7 asked surprised.

"No, just that I was planning something along the same lines, just about then," she replied.

"Okay, glad my 'stony-faced-stare' still works. Now cut the chatter troops, or at least you Williams, have you by any chance misappropriated Lt. Alenko's voice?" Shepard said, seemingly all business-like.

"No, sir!" She barked snapping to attention, trying not to grin.

"Good to hear it." He replied.

"Sorry to interrupt Commander, but you might want to look at this." Alenko called from the Ambassador's desk, staring at the holo-screen.

"Ah, I see our Lieutenant found the use of his voice once again, let us go forth then and see what it is he has discovered." Shepard said in mock seriousness. "What is it?" he asked, coming up to the L2.

"Looks like a rather interesting patrol report, it might be worth looking into."

"Hmm, strange energy readings in the Hydra Sector. Sounds like geth to me. Let's keep an eye out for it, if we ever have some spare time." The Commander said, copying the information onto his Omni-tool, the amber holo flickering to life around his armour-clad forearm.

:: :: :: ::

Figuring that they still had some time, Shepard decided to explore the vicinity. You never knew when something interesting might crop up and interesting was Shepard's speciality.

The early encounters proved to be disappointing, first a grumpy Volus and two Elcor diplomats, one frightfully optimistic, the other unhappy about a problem with the Consort. Shepard ignored the Volus and offered to look into the matter with the Consort. The unhappy Elcor seemed somewhat hesitant but finally gave the directions to the location of the enigmatic Asari.

Then Shepard made it to Executor Pallin's office, confronting the C-Sec officer about the investigation into Saren. This exchange revealed that the Executor resented Humanity somewhat, that he despised Spectres and thought that Saren was guilty, but he would not reveal any details. When Pallin turned back to his console, Shepard managed to grab a glance at what the officer was reading. Something about human pro-biotics meeting in the Hawking Eta cluster, noting this on his Omni-tool, the group made it's way toward the nearby diplomat's bar/café.

Once inside, Shepard sent Ashley and Kaidan off to try and gather the latest rumours and gossip. He himself went over to the bar and seated himself on one of the vacant seats, motioning to the bartender. The somewhat larger man came up to Shepard. "Anything I can get for you commander?"

Shepard eyebrows raised in surprise. "You know who I am? I hope I don't owe you anything." He asked jokingly. The bartender chuckled, the smile seeming to crack his face which probably wasn't used to smiling very much. "No, no, nothing so serious. It's always like this when there is a person of interest coming to the Citadel, everyone starts talking." Giving the commander an expressive look he continued. "I just need to stay informed as to who I might be paying host to. Trust me you don't want to offend an asari justicar."

The Commander shifted slightly, sipping from his drink. "Anything I should know about?"

:: :: :: ::

As Shepard made his way towards the bar, Ashley and Kaidan walked over to a group of young Alliance soldiers. They seemed to be talking about the Consort but when the two marines drew up behind a private who was arguing in the Asari's defence. "No, I don't think so. The Consort would never do such a thing!" Feeling Ashley and Kaidan's presence he quickly turned around. "What?" Seeing that both outranked him he quickly changed his tone. But Kaidan comforted him by assuring him that it wasn't an inspection. Ashley asked the private what it was they were arguing about. Nervous, talking to a superior officer, the young man stumbled through the details, the fact that Ashley's armour was so tight fitting also didn't help. By the time he was done Shepard was signalling Kaidan for them to return.

"So, what did you pick up?" Shepard addressed them when they had left the area around the embassies, after trying to convince an Avina console that they didn't need any help. They walked through the stylised parks as each of them shared the information they had gleaned from their interactions.

After a brief silence Kaidan voiced a thought. "Sure is peaceful here."

Ashley shook her head. "No this place is too perfect, like they're hiding something."

"Well, it's big enough to hide anything." Kaidan commented.

Shepard continued to lead the group, listening to the exchange. Ashley looked around and continued on a different topic. "I can't tell the aliens from the animals."

Shepard chuckled. "Yeah, I'd like to see you trying to pet a Turian."

"Okay, maybe I can," she said, after thinking about this for a while.

"I can think of many ways I would pet an Asari." Kaidan commented.

Shepard laughed. "You? You're the last person I expected to voice such thoughts, although I've got to say I agree."

Ashley dramatically flung out her arms from their normally folded position. "Honestly! Men!"

"Hmm. Talking about Asari, isn't that there where the Consort is supposed to stay?" Kaidan said as they approached one of the white-clad chambers that seemed to be part of the Citadel's construction.

:: :: :: ::

When the squad had entered the Consort's chambers they were immediately confronted by one of the attendants, the uniform dress of pink and violet seemingly designed to be alluring and professional at the same time. "Greetings, I am Nelyna, would you like for me to arrange a meeting with the Consort for you?"

Shepard looked around the reception room, there were various richly dressed individuals lounging around the room, all of them in company of one of the attendants; all of whom seemed to be asari, except for a Human woman who seemed to be waiting for some client or other. Finally he addressed the Asari. "No, thank you, maybe some other time."

As he turned to leave, Neyla's hand flew to her ear as she received a message over her ear-implant. When she had finished she rushed to catch up to the receding back of the Commander. Excusing herself she said that the Consort had personally requested for his presence. Wondering what this was about Shepard looked at his team-mates, who both shrugged in confusion. Following the aide they made their way to the Consort's private chamber.

:: :: :: ::

The Consort's chamber was decorated in the same style as the reception area, walls covered in white panelling, seats and plants tastefully dispersed around the room. Standing beside a tinted dome was the Consort. She wore the same attire as her aides but where for them it was a uniform for her it seemed a second skin, complementing her blue skin perfectly.

Shepard had made it four paces into the room before she first spoke. "That is close enough, Commander." She was facing away from them and Shepard wondered what her intentions were with the strange summons and even stranger greeting.

"I've heard a great many things about you since your arrival on the Citadel."

"You wanted to speak with me?" The Commander finally said, his patience running out.

The Asari turned to face them and approached the three Humans. "I have a certain problem that could use your expertise."

Shepard folded his arms. "Get to the point." All of this manoeuvring and confusion was getting irritating.

The Consort obliged. "My name is Sha'ira, no doubt you already know that I am the Consort. I have a friend. Septimus, a retired Turian general. I won't discuss the details, but he wanted me to be more than I could be. We had a falling out. Now he spends his days in Chora's Den drinking and spreading lies about me. If you would speak to him as a fellow soldier, I believe he will listen to you and let the matter be." Sha'ira voice thickened in sadness as she related this. "Please Commander, I want this to end."

Sympathising with the Asari Shepard nodded. "Sure, what do you think will work best? You are obviously hurting at the loss of your friend."

Sha'ira's face immediately seemed to brighten. "Appeal to his sense of honour, he is a good man and will surely want to end this himself." Drawing close to Shepard she continued, lowering her voice. "If you could convince him to stop spreading lies about me I would be _very_ grateful."

After Shepard had left the Consort's chamber they made their way towards the Citadel Tower. On the way there Shepard stopped at a nearby emporium, run by a Hanar called Delanynder. Here he bought several arms licences for his ships quartermaster and a new Colossus armour for himself and Ashley, as Ashley's had been severely damaged during the assault on Eden Prime and as his N7 armour was already an ageing model and it hadn't handled his almost berserker tactics very well.

Now decked out in the intimidating red and black armour they passed by a miniature version of a Mass Effect relay. Ashley commented that it was the one piece of art that she probably enjoyed but Shepard wasn't listening as all he could suddenly hear was a humming that felt like it was scratching against his mind. He squeezed his temples and after a while he was able to suppress the noise, just in time to hear Kaidan comment. "Anyone else hear that low hum? Sounds like that statue. Makes my teeth tingle."

His face seemed to have paled slightly but it didn't seem to have affected him in the same manner as it had Shepard. Ashley was blissfully oblivious of the strange effect the sculpture was having. "No, are you all-right Commander?" She asked seeing that he seemed to be struggling with something.

"Yeah, I'm fine, It must have been that beacon, probably some sort of mental after-shock set off by whatever Kaidan is hearing."

Quickly making their way away from the relay, they made their way into the elevator that went up the Citadel tower.

While the strange elevator music played in the background Ashley wondered aloud. "The Council isn't going to ask me any questions are they?" It seemed that like all marines, she didn't fully trust anyone up the political ladder.

"I doubt it. We've made our reports. Now we just have to trust Ambassador Udina." Kaidan replied.

"No we don't, sir," she carefully said in response.

:: :: :: ::

If the Praesidium was an area of high appeal the interior of the Tower was doubly so. From the elevator numerous flights of stairs ascended until they reached the area in which the Council convened publicly. On each level fountains and gardens decorated the large chamber, with whole trees in bloom 'shading' benches set into alcoves. Various representatives of all species were scattered about in small groups, their voices hushed in the massive space.

The only people not meeting quietly were two Turians, standing by a large circular fountain. The one was attired in the blue and black hardsuit that was the uniform of the Citadel Security, his metallic grey face had a blue colonial tattoo running across the top of his nose and down his mandibles, he was also wearing one of the HUD's (Heads-up Display, for the unenlightened) that many C-Sec officers seemed to like. The other Turian was Executor Pallin.

"Saren's hiding something! Give me more time. Stall them." The C-Sec officer was vehemently arguing with the Executor.

Pallin's response was incredulous. "Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous! Your investigation is over, Garrus."

Pallin left it at that and made his way towards the upper levels. The one called Garrus seemed to be struggling with his anger as he turned to leave, almost walking right into Shepard.

Somewhat surprised, Shepard thought the turian would have saluted if he had been in the human military. "Commander Shepard?" Recovering from the shock the turian continued in a more controlled manner. "Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren."

This seemed to explain why the turians had been arguing, knowing there couldn't be much Shepard queried Garrus anyway. "Come across anything I should know about?"

Garrus' body-language reflected his irritation as he shook his head, his mandible flaring. "Saren's a Spectre. Most of his activities are classified. I couldn't find anything solid. But I know he's up to something. Like you humans say: I feel it in my gut."

Garrus excused himself and headed to the elevators as Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley made their way to the waiting Captain Anderson.

Anderson motioned to the small group as he turned to head up the last flight of stairs. "The hearing's already started. Come on."

They had just crested the stairs when the voice of the Asari councillor met their ears. "The geth attack is a matter of some concern. But there is no evidence indicating Saren was involved in any way."

The area in which the Council convened was at the highest part of the Citadel Tower, a giant transparent screen behind the three councillors displayed the glory of the Citadel in all it's grandeur, looking over the wards as they rotated about the Presidium a large amber hologram of a Turian was to the right of the Council, cybernetic enhancements protruding visibly from his body, one arm seemingly completely artificial. The councillors themselves were standing on an elevated podium, so that whoever met them looked up at them from an inferior position. This was where Ambassador Udina was standing when Captain Anderson, Shepard and his squad approached.

Separating this platform from the dais of the council was a recession over which the platform extended, not unlike the Captain's platform on the _Normandy_, this recession was covered in glass panelling and inside more plants flourished. Ashley looked over the edge of the platform when the group had come to a stop. She didn't like feeling this exposed, any number of things could go wrong.

The Turian councillor was speaking when the group came to a stand-still behind Udina. "The investigation conducted by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason."

It seemed like the Human ambassador was losing his case but he had decided to go down fighting, proving that his career had not made him into complete slime, or at least not yet. "An eyewitness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood!" his angry voice rang out through the chamber.

"We've read the Eden Prime report, Ambassador. The testimony of one traumatised dockworker is hardly compelling proof," the Salarian councillor calmly responded.

At this point the Turian who Shepard assumed was Saren spoke up. "I resent these accusations. Nihlus is a fellow Spectre, and a friend."

Shepard immediately disliked him, the arrogance he projected, it rubbed against every sympathetic nerve the marine possessed. Before he could say anything though, the Captain spoke up. "That just let you catch him off-guard!" Shepard was surprised at this outburst from his C.O., they must have met before.

"Captain Anderson. You always seem to be involved when Humanity makes false charges against me." Saren's reply was dripping contempt, but then he turned his amber projected eyes on Shepard. "And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed." The last comment forced Shepard to suppress a flare of anger. _Damn, this bastard is a... a... bastard._

When Saren had returned to his contemptuous position, looking down at the Humans over his folded arms, Shepard spoke up, his voice cool and analysing, not hinting at his true feelings. "The mission on Eden Prime was top secret. The only way you could have known what happened there was if you had been there yourself!"

"With Nihlus gone, his files passed on to me. I read the Eden Prime report. I was unimpressed..." Saren's reply was hardly convincing to Shepard, sadly there was nothing he could do about it "...But what do you expect from a human?"Among those assembled Saren's next comment caused some muttering, it was against all inter-species regulations to voice xenophobic prejudice so publicly and under such a prestigious circumstances like a Council meeting. It was unthinkable.

To Shepard it was hardly a surprise, by now he had gathered enough intel on the turian's character to see how he thought of others: they were all inferior in the Spectre's eyes, tools to be used and manipulated, then discarded, even the Council. Humans seemed to be at the bottom of his ladder, together with Varren and Vorcha.

"Insults? Is that the best you can do?" Looking down, almost seeming sad, Shepard continued. "One would think the 'best' Spectre wouldn't sink so low." Turning to the Council the N7 continued. "Saren despises Humanity. It's probably the reason he attacked Eden Prime."

Saren was getting somewhat worried, if this Shepard-person continued on his current warpath, he might just sway the Council. He would ruin everything! "Your species needs to learn it's place Shepard. You're not ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres!" This statement Saren made was carefully planned, he hoped to goad a reaction from the other more hot-headed humans.

It worked like a charm, Shepard's stream of logic was broken by Ambassador Udina. "He has no right to say that!" the aged man exploded. "That's not his decision!"

Playing right into Saren's hands this outburst stopped the Council from actually thinking about the valid points Shepard had made.

The Asari Councillor, was not completely unaware of the clashing force of paragon and renegade about her, but there seemed to be too much going on at this point, she needed clarity. "Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting."

Saren grabbed onto the opportunity like a drowning man a life-buoy. "This meeting has no purpose. The Humans are wasting your time Councillor, and mine."

If he had been Human Shepard thought that he would have sniffed snobbishly at that last comment. But he now had the advantage. "You can't hide behind the Council forever!" The N7 passionately exclaimed, hoping to goad the Turian to to something rash about the veiled threat.

Once again Shepard was set back by his oblivious companions as Captain Anderson spoke up. "There is still one outstanding issue; Commander Shepard's vision. It may have been triggered by the beacon."

Inwardly Shepard groaned, this was the worst possible time to bring that up, true the vision had been horrifying and almost prophetic. But it would not stand a chance in the firing line of politics, where only the most believable proof was even considered.

Saren had found another life-line and this one he also grabbed onto. "Are we allowing dreams into evidence now?" His voice dripping with mock surprise and sarcasm. "How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?"

The turian councillor seemed to also have the dislike for humans that most of his race had harboured since the first contact war. It showed in his next comment. "I agree. Our judgement must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and speculations."

The hooded Salarian councillor then turned to the commander, whose experience was the one in question. "Do you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?"

The N7 turned away disgusted, waving his dismissal. "You've made your decision. I won't waste my breath."

The council didn't seem to like the way the Commander had addressed them and quietly shared glances, the turian silently shaking his head. After this brief exchange the Asari representative looked back at those assembled. "The Council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the geth. Ambassador, your petition to have Saren disbarred from the Spectres is denied."

Saren's projected face was set in an expression of supremacy and haughtiness as only a Turian's could. "I'm glad justice was served," was all he said before the amber image flickered away.

The Asari councillor couldn't budge the feeling that this was just the beginning of something big, but there were other matters to attend to. "This meeting is adjourned." was all she said before she and the other councillors turned to the doors of their respective quarters.

Captain Anderson led the way off the platform, Udina still remained for a short while, to reign in his emotions and to find a scapegoat for this epic failure.

_Author's note: Thanks for the feedback that I have gotten, It kicked me back into drive._

_Thanks to 360widdershins for the beta-reading._

_Also, anyone know where I can find the scripts for the game dialogue (if there are any). So far I have been sitting in front of the screen, ever so often pausing it to copy down what the people are saying. Trust me this takes a lot of time..._

_Everything belongs to Bioware_


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Wards**

Shepard, Williams, Alenko and Anderson were standing at the bottom of the stairs leading to where the hearing had taken place. Ambassador Udina made his way to them and immediately gave voice to his thoughts. "It was a mistake to bring you into that hearing, Captain. You and Saren have too much history. It made the Council question our motives."

David Anderson remained straight-faced. "I know Saren." He said, his voice confident. "He's working with the geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race. Every colony we have is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even Earth isn't safe." For every item he listed, he passionately gestured, indicating how convicted he was of this fact.

Shepard watched his C.O. carefully. There was a tangible dislike for Saren from the man. This piqued the N7's curiosity but it was for the Captain to reveal his past. He would not pry into an obviously sensitive topic.

"We need to deal with Saren ourselves." Addressing everyone in general, the marine stated what he thought should be done.

The Ambassador shook his head. "As a Spectre, he's virtually untouchable. We need to find some way to expose him."

"What about Garrus, that C-Sec investigator? We saw him arguing with the Executor." Kaidan's suggestion was a good one and the only lead they had for now.

Ashley picked up on this and seconded him. "That's right! He was asking for more time to finish his report." The younger marine was obviously getting exited at this prospect. "Seems like he was close to finding something on Saren."

Shepard nodded his approval. "Any Idea where we can find him?" his he addressed to the two older men standing in front of him.

Udina seemed to think for a while before he responded. "I have a contact in C-Sec who can help us track this Garrus down. His name is Harkin."

As soon as the Ambassador named his contact the Captain shook his head. "Forget it. They suspended Harkin last month. Drinking on the job. I won't waste my time with that loser."

Udina seemed somewhat offended by this comment but he controlled his expression well. "You won't have to. I don't want the Council using your past history with Saren as an excuse to ignore anything we turn up. Shepard will handle this."

How the Ambassador had simply cut the Captain from the investigation shocked Shepard, he promptly gave voice to his disapproval, "you can't just cut Captain Anderson from the investigation."

But the Captain seemed to agree with Udina in this regard, "the Ambassador's right I need to step aside."

Glad that that had been dealt with, Udina turned to leave. "I need to take care of some business. Captain, meet me in my office later."

Shepard watched the receding man's back before turning his attention back to Anderson. "Harkin is probably drunk at Chora's Den. It's a dingy little club in the lower section of the wards," the Captain said seeing Shepard's attention was once again focused on the present situation.

A drunkard seemed like a less than reliable source of information. So Shepard cast out in an attempt to get a more solid source. "Maybe there's another way to find evidence against Saren."

Anderson pondered this for a while before reaching a conclusion, "you should speak to Barla Von. Over in the financial district. Rumour has it he's an agent of the Shadow Broker."

Upon hearing of the enigmatic information dealer Ashley's face scrunched up in confusion. "The Shadow Broker?" she said aloud.

"An information dealer." the Captain responded, answering her question. "He deals in information, buying it and selling it to the highest bidder. I've heard Barla Von's one of his top representatives. He might know something, his info won't come cheap."

Seeing that there was nothing more to be talked about Shepard took his leave of the Captain, who in turn wished him luck and said that if he needed anything he could be found at the Ambassador's office.

The squad continued to make their way to the elevator when Ashley spoke up. "That guy is up to something."

Kaidan looked around. "What guy?"

Ashley' eyes were locked onto a salarian who seemed to be trying to remain discreet. "The one over by the keeper."

Shepard was already making his way towards the 'guy', immediately having spotted his suspicious behaviour as well. As the marine drew closer to the salarian, the alien quickly stood up from his crouching position, omni-tool winking out. His skin was a dark hue and he had a pale tattoo winding up his throat and over the edge of his chin. His voice was shaking slightly when he addressed the trio of humans. "What? Oh. No. I wasn't... Never mind. Is there something you want?"

"Why are you so interested in the keepers?" Shepard asked. He couldn't see why the salarian was so nervous about them having seen him interact with the Citadel's insectiod caretakers. From what he knew it was a fairly futile practice. The enigmatic creatures... or was it machines? Or a combination of the two? Nobody really knew. All that was known was that they maintained the Citadel, often did bizarre things and tended to 'die' whenever someone tried to come into contact with them.

The salarian's reply was almost as badly formed as his first question. "Keeper's I've got no interest in the kee..."

"Don't get coy. I know what I saw." Ashley interrupted the unfortunate alien before he could complete his sentence.

"I... uh. I'm not sure I should be talking to you about this."

Shepard folded his arms over his chest, the constant deflecting getting on his nerves. "We're just talking. Is there something wrong with that?" He asked his irritation beginning to show.

This got results and the salarian started talking. He said his name was Chorban, a scientist and that he and a friend had 'borrowed' some medical scanning technology and had it adapted for gathering readings from the keepers, something that had never been done before. But apparently any possible interference with the keepers was frowned upon and he wasn't so sure about how he should go about it. The salarian said his interest in the keepers was purely academical and somewhat out of curiosity: wanting to know 'what makes them tick'. The Commander was satisfied by this answer and even offered to help him scan the keepers. Chorban, surprised, gladly accepted the help and even offered to pay a small fee for every keeper scanned.

On the elevator Ashley once again expressed herself. "I can't believe the Council just ignored all the evidence against Saren!" she exclaimed as soon as the transparent doors closed behind them and the elevator glided down.

"Saren's one of their best operatives. It's only natural that they take his word over ours." Kaidan's reply was made calmly and reasonably, in complete contrast to the blazing emotions of Williams.

His comment just seemed to spur her on. "Oh, so now we just chase leads while this smug turian runs around with his geth troopers." The way she expressed this seemed to make it sound almost comical. Shepard imagined a bobble-head Saren running around a miniature galaxy, with a horde of robots wearing the iconic Stormtrooper helmets from the classic Star Wars movies marching behind him. Damn, those were older than a century and they were still popular.

This image was shattered when the images from the dreams returned, almost overwhelming Shepard but he was snapped back into the present when Kaidan replied with a wry grin. "That's politics, Chief."

This darkened Ashley's mood even more. "I hate politics." was all she said. This brought the conversation to an end and the group made it's way back to the financial district in silence, where the emporium had been located. This time they were headed towards the establishment neighbouring the shop, where Barla Von, the shady financial advisor of the Presidium plied his trade.

Shepard, always on the lookout for trouble, spotted a turian C-Sec officer arguing with a hanar. Curious as to what a hanar would be brave enough to argue over, the Commander diverted the small group towards this minor disturbance.

It turned out to be that the hanar was trying to preach about the 'Enkindlers', but he didn't have an evangelical permit, that was legally required for someone to publicly speak about their faith in the Presidium. Shepard convinced the hanar that he was not doing his own cause much good by breaking the law and that the 'Enkindlers' would not think highly of such an act. Ashamed the hanar abandoned his attempts. The sight of his strange, pink form leaving seemed to cheer up the exasperated officer who then awarded Shepard with a small sum of credits for his trouble, before leaving as well.

Encountering no other interruptions, the squad entered the office from which Barla Von conducted his business. Like all volus, the financial advisor/manager was wearing an environmental pressure suit, as the short, round species could not survive in a nitrogen and oxygen rich atmosphere. Barla Von was sitting on a small chair, suited to his size and shape, when Shepard and his two companions entered the room.

"Is there anything I can do for you Commander?" The volus said, once Shepard had come closer.

_Does everyone here know who I am? This place is almost as bad as Elysium._ Shepard then recalled the last time he had been on the colony he had saved; crowds of admirers swarming him at every street corner, fans asking for autographs, children seeking his attention. _Okay, maybe not that much like Elysium._

Looking at the small alien Shepard voiced his request. "I heard you work for the Shadow Broker. Do you have any information on Saren?"

"You're very blunt Shepard. But you're right I am an agent for the Shadow Broker, and I do know about Saren."

Shepard was curious as to why the volus so readily admitted his connection to the Broker, but he didn't really care as long as he got what he was looking for. So the only remaining obstacle was price. What Shepard said next was as carefully formulated as his first question, "I hear your information can be expensive."

Barla Von nodded sagely. "Normally this information would cost a small fortune." Then gesturing dismissively he continued. "But these are exceptional circumstances. So I'm going to give it to you for free."

Shepard was immediately suspicious, but it was Ashley who voiced his thoughts. "What's the catch?"

If one could have seen through the mask one would have seen Barla Von's face set into an innocent expression. "There is no catch." His voice returned back to it's business-tone. "The Shadow Broker is quite upset with Saren right now. They used to do a lot of business, until Saren turned on him."

Shepard almost laughed at the irony. "Saren betrayed him. Imagine that." he said, the sarcasm in his voice obvious.

Barla Von seemed a bit offended by this. "No, matter what you think of Saren he is not stupid. He knows the Shadow Broker is a valuable ally. Turning on him doesn't make sense. Not unless something huge was at stake. I don't know the details but the Shadow Broker hired a freelancer to deal with it, a krogan mercenary."

Crossing his arms Shepard continued to fix the volus with a calculating look. "That's not much to go on."

His 'feathers' once again ruffled Barla Von's reply was full of indignation. "I just told you that the most famous Spectre in the galaxy betrayed the Shadow Broker. Quite a bargain, considering the price."

:: :: :: ::

Shepard wasn't satisfied with what they learned from the volus, but at least they had something to go with now. The group made it's way to one of the wards, hoping to gather more useful intel there. When the doors of the lift opened to the upper ward level, Ashley turned to Kaidan, "How you holding up Lieutenant?"

Ashley had served with L2 biotics before and knew that although they were powerful, they also suffered painful side-effects from the element-zero exposure. Kaidan looked at the female marine with greater respect than before. Usually people didn't bother caring about him. "Not too bad," he replied. "No headaches worth mentioning lately. Maybe I'm getting used to the strain."

"Maybe you've just got a good stress release." Ashley said grinning. "I know that knocking geth on their synthetic asses gets rid of my headaches."

The group had made it's way through one of the many hydraulic doors, passing a human and asari who were deep in conversation. The next room was a balcony, showing off the glory of the Citadel. Kaidan was about to point out to Ashley that his 'kicking' involved using biotics and that usually made the migraines worse, but upon seeing the ward they were on spread out like a massive metropolis all he could manage was. "Woah, big place." As he rested his arms on the metal-alloy railing.

Williams and Shepard came up beside the amazed marine wondering at the scale of the station. Ashley turned to Kaidan for a second to address him. "That your professional opinion, sir?"

Before he could reply, Shepard interjected. "How can they keep tabs on all of this? The Presidium may as well be on a another planet."

The L2 nodded in agreement. "There is definitely a gap between their presentation and what's here. Tracking arrivals must be a nightmare."

Ashley was still gaping at the countless high-rise buildings as she made her next comment. "This place makes Jump-Zero look like a porta-john, and it's the biggest space station the Alliance has."

"Jump-Zero was big, but this is a whole 'nother scale. Look at the ward arms. How do they keep all that mass from flying apart." Kaidan said, referring to the five wards, that slowly rotated about the Presidium-ring.

"The Council represents more races than I thought. No wonder they're careful with newcomers." This was said by Shepard, he wanted to see how his team reacted to the comment and see how they felt about humanity's current situation.

It was Ashley who first spoke. "Or maybe they just don't like humans." Kaidan remained silent, looking at the view stretched before them.

"Why not?" the Commander asked. "We've got oceans, beautiful women and this emotion called love. According to the old vids we have everything they want."

"If you expect me to get into a foil miniskirt and thigh-high boots, I want dinner first... sir." Ashley said, shooting a sidelong glance at Shepard.

"That'll be enough, Chief." Kaidan chuckled.

Turning to look at the others two Shepard leaned on the railing with one arm, the black and red hardsuit contrasting with the white paint of the station. "At ease, Lieutenant. I can't see her in a skirt, anyway."

"Damn straight you can't" Ashley stumbled over the statement. If it was because she agreed to the extreme or if it was the thought that her C.O. was imagining her in anything other than her armour she didn't reveal.

Kaidan rescued the Gunnery Chief by turning back to the military protocol. "Ready to move out, sir"

The three made their way through the neon-lit pedestrian streets of the wards. Ashley and Kaidan were talking about life here. Ashley seemed to prefer living here to the Presidium as there would be more action. Kaidan on the other hand was more inclined to the upper-class district, but he liked the spectacular sights. Shepard only listened with half an ear, his focus directed on the crowds of people that either lounged against the infrastructure, chatting, rushing about their business, or slowly strolling to their destination, no urgency in their pace.

Asari, Turian, Volus, Human, Salarian, Krogan, Hanar, Elcor even the odd Drell or Quarian. The Wards were packed with life of all shapes and sizes. Shepard's implant struggled to translate the plethora of languages that assaulted it all at the same time, so snatches of native languages made it through to Shepard's hearing unimpeded. The melodious, soothing almost Tolkienish of the Asari, the deep monotone booming of Elcor, the super fast chatter of Salarians, various snatches of the various dominant Human languages: Spanish, English, Mandarin, German and Russian. The N7 thought about what he had said about the Council earlier, at the balcony, coming to realise that it was more true than he had believed it to be.

"Commander Shepard? Excuse me, Commander Shepard!" A Human woman wearing a red dress was rushing for the marines, trying to get the Commander's attention.

Shepard stopped, watching as the woman made her way through the crowds to his position. She looked to be of mixed Asian and European decent, with dark hair and slightly slanted eyes. She pushed through the last crowd blocking her way and stood in front of the trio of humans. "I am Emily Wong. I'm an investigative journalist working here on the Citadel. Could I have a moment of your time?"

_Media, great..._ Shepard hoped that this wouldn't be too problematic. "What do you need?"

Wong seemed relieved that he hadn't simply turned away as most military types tended to do with any form of media. "I've been hunting for evidence of organised crime on the Citadel, but there are places I can't go. I was hoping you might share anything you find during your own investigation. I can make it worth your time."

"How do you know that my investigation is going to uncover anything you need?" Shepard had stopped wondering how everyone he met knew of him or what he was doing, obviously news travelled fast on the Citadel.

"You wouldn't be investigating if it weren't big. And if it's big, it's something I'd like to hear about."

The Commander thought about this for a second. "Sounds like a good cause. If I find any information, it's yours." It wouldn't hurt to give her what she wanted, in return he would be paid with both money and a reporter who owed him, something that could come in handy.

"Thank you, Commander you won't regret it," was all she said before she disappeared into the crowds.

Shepard steered the group into a nearby casino called Flux, it seemed to be one of the better ones as it was not a huge establishment and the patrons looked as if they felt safe in their environment, the only security was a human bouncer, who leaned against the wall adjacent to the door.

As in the diplomat's bar, Shepard headed towards the bar while Ashley and Kaidan mingled with the crowds. When he got nearer to the bar, the Commander saw a Volus behind the counter arguing with one of the waitresses. She was dressed in the same fashion as the other waitrons and she had red, almost shoulder-length hair.

When Shepard confronted the two it turned out that the woman (who was called Rita) had a sister who was working as an undercover agent for C-Sec in Chora's Den, he offered to help the waitress, who thanked the Commander profusely and returned to her work. The Volus, Doran, was the owner of the casino thanked Shepard for his offer and then returned to serving his customers.

Reconvening outside the markets Shepard related this last bit of news to his squad-mates. Ashley shook her head in astonishment. "It's really strange, sir. How everything seems to be pointing towards this 'Chora's Den' place. It just reeks of trouble."

"Yes." Kaidan nodded his assent. "I asked around and it turns out that the local crime-boss 'Fist' is the owner."

"Then let's see how many birds we can kill with one stone. Going to Chora's Den is either going to bring a lot of answers or a lot of questions, but we don't have any of the prior, so what's to lose. But before we go there, let's head to the markets, I heard there's some good deals to be made."

:: :: :: ::

The markets were packed, more than streets of the ward. The stalls of the various businesses were spread over two levels, owners displaying their wares and customers haggling with the owners.

Shepard bought more weapon licences for the ship and purchased new a new assault-rifle for Williams, complete with sledgehammer-rounds.

Ashley looked the gun over, stunned that her Commander would spend such credits on her. The armour was understandable, as the old one had been next to useless, but this... this was a whole different level. Why buy the best gun on the market for her? She was just a soldier, nothing special like Alenko and his biotics.

After looking at the awestruck marine for a while Shepard chucked. "Don't worry, Chief. It's real."

"Yes, sir. But why... why this... for me?" She seemed at a loss for words.

"Because I need you to be at your best, Williams. Alenko will get any amp that'll better his performance, but you, you need guns, guns and armour. I want you to be able to cover me, no matter what situation," Shepard replied matter-of-factly, leaving no room for argument.

Folding up the rifle Ashley straightened, saluting. "Yes, sir. You can count on me, sir. I won't let you down."

"I, know Ash, that's why I'm happy you joined my crew."

:: :: :: ::

_He bought me a gun... no, not just any gun. The best fragging gun on the market. Why? How do I deserve this. Or is it a test? Does he know? No, if he did I wouldn't be here, holding a half-million credits worth of rifle. What will happen when he finds out?_

Ashley's mind was reeling. This Commander Shepard was something different. He was comfortable with his troops, openly speaking with them and trying to get to know them on a personal level. Something rare among the higher ranks. He then went and bought her the best equipment on the market.

Then she came to a resolution. His confidence in her was unprecedented, but she would try to live up to his expectations. She would prove them all wrong. The Williams name was still to make a mark on the galaxy and she would do it by standing by her Commander. She would cover his six when all abandoned him. She would do her best to prove that she was worthy of his trust. Doubts still nagged at her but she shoved them away. It wasn't worth worrying over until it cropped up, even then she still hoped that it wouldn't ruin everything.

:: :: :: ::

The squad was making it's way down to the lower levels of the ward when a Human man ran up to them. Instead of someone trying to get them to help them though, it turned out that he was a massive fan of Commander Shepard and hoped to get a picture of him. The Commander obliged if only to get the hyped up Conrad Verner to leave them alone. Satisfied, the fanatic ran off.

Just before entering the courtyard in front of Chora's Den, Shepard's instincts told the N7 that something was wrong. He motioned to the other two who, both trusting their Commander, prepared for battle. Ashley drawing the new rifle, Kaidan summoning his biotics, the black-blue corona flaring to life around him.

"Look out for civvies, but watch for anything out of place," Shepard ordered.

The squad stormed the door when the N7 gestured that they advance. The marines made their way into the room like a well-oiled machine, years of training and experience taking over.

The threat was obvious, two Turians were standing on the other side of the chamber when the squad entered, both holding guns at the ready, both wearing hardsuits and both having a skull painted onto their face. "That's him!" the one shouted as they opened fire.

:: :: :: ::

The fire-fight had been short. The Assassins had obviously not counted on the marines being ready for their ambush and so they had been gunned down in a matter of seconds, not wounding any of the Humans.

Kaidan looked closely at the bodies of the defeated. "Those were Saren's men"

"Yeah, he knows we're onto him, and he's not happy 'bout it," Ashley replied.

Shepard returned his gun back to it's rack. "No matter, we'll get him in the end. We've got to."

"Aye, aye, sir" Ashley acknowledged.

The Humans then made their way to the entrance of the night-club. The main hall of Chora's Den was circular, in the centre there was a raised stage where skimpily-clad Asari were pole dancing. Around the base of the stage there was a bar, where numerous people were rushing about trying to fulfil all the orders. Around the walls there were tables for all the different patrons, the room seemed to be divided into two. On one side the Asari dancers preformed, and mingled with patrons. On the other more serious drinking was taking place. Unlike Flux, where there had only been one bouncer, here there were at least five, some of them Krogan. Even the bartenders carried side-arms.

"I see why this place is so popular. It's got quite the, uh, view." Kaidan commented, noting the numerous dancers. His voice barely audible over the loud music.

Ashley didn't seem impressed. "Lieutenant, put your tongue back in your mouth, before you trip over it. Seriously, a million light years away from where Humanity began and we walk into a bar filled with men drooling over half-naked women shaking their asses on a stage. I can't decide if that's funny or sad."

Shepard didn't comment but made his way to a Turian sitting among the booths where the Asari were preforming for individual clients. The Turian looked over to the trio of Humans once they had neared him, lifting his eyes from the drink he was cradling. "Commander? Hmph. What do you want?" he said sounding irritated.

Shepard looked at the Turian more closely, he wore the regalia of the Turian military, the symbols of his rank of general displayed on his arms. The uniform was somewhat worse for wear and the man was obviously not completely sober.

"What's bothering you, General?" Shepard asked.

The Turian shook his head in dismay. "I've seen a lot of horrible things in my days and there's only one woman in this damn galaxy that helps me forget it."

Kaidan looked at the general somewhat confused. "Then why create rumours and lies about this woman?"

"'Couse she rejected me. Me! Septimus Oraka, general of the Turian fleet!" The general almost shouted.

Shepard looked at the man in disgust. "Some General! What kind of example are you to your troops?"

"The troops can kiss my leathery backside." the Turian retorted with a dismissive wave of his arm. "All I wanted was to retire and be with her." He looked back at Shepard. "Look, kid, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but don't waste your time."

Shepard face was set in a sad expression. "General, did you ever win a battle by moping in a bar?"

Septimus barked a short sarcastic laugh. "Ha, war! That's what this feels like all right." Then he looked at himself. "How did I ever let it come to this? So you think it's so easy? Just straighten up and act like a general?" His voice seemed hopeless.

"It would be more productive than just sitting here." Ashley commented.

"Huh. Maybe you're right, Commander. Sha'ira's worth the effort... even if she won't have me back."

Relieved that he had gotten through, Shepard grabbed the aged Turian under the arm and hoisted him from his seat. "This is no place for someone of your stature, General."

"All right. I'll go to her... after I've had a cold shower. Or two." Gathering his wits he turned to Shepard. "Say you're a bright kid. Would you be interested in earning a few extra credits?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"There's an elcor diplomat who believes Sha'ira gave up his secrets."

"Why would he believe such a thing?" Kaidan asked.

Septimus sighed with regret. "Because I told him. Look, I just need you to convince him of the truth."

"What makes you think that he'll believe me?" Shepard asked sceptically.

"You'll bring him proof." Taking a datapad and holding it out to the Commander, he continued. "Take this datapad. It shows where I got my info. It will exonerate Sha'ira and convince the elcor."

"Okay, I know who he is. We've met. Xeltan, right?"

Septimus nodded. "Yes that's him. Thanks Commander. You know... you might make a good general one day." the Turian said as he left.

Shepard then confronted the only female Human who was working at the bar about working with C-Sec she denied everything he said and quickly rushed away, slightly panicked. Shrugging Shepard headed to a balding Human with an unshaven chin and dressed in scruffy, blue, BDUs. The Commander assumed that he was Udina's contact, Harkin. Proving Captain Anderson correct, the man was lounging at a table, an alcoholic beverage nestled in his hands.

As the party of marines drew near the man looked up for a moment, then looked down again, snorting in contempt. "Hmph. Alliance Military. I coulda been a marine you know," he said, his speech slightly slurred, "Instead I joined the goddamned Citadel Security. Biggest mistake of my life."

_You? A marine? Yeah, right,_ Shepard tried not to show his disgust, "Harkin, right? I was told you could help me find someone. A Turian C-Sec officer named Garrus."

The former officer looked up at Shepard again. "Garrus? Ha! You must be one of Captain Anderson's crew. Poor bastard's still trying to bring Saren down, eh?" Harking looked about consiprationally, "I know where Garrus is. But you gotta tell me something. Did the Captain let you in on his big secret?"

Shepard's patience was wearing thin, he did not have the luxury of time to waste on this scum. "Just tell me where Garrus is," he said through clenched teeth.

Harkin grinned evily, "But it's all related. Don't you see? The Captain used to be a Spectre. Didn't know that, did you?" the scruffy man was talking mockingly sweet and slow, as if Shepard were a stupid, ignorant child. "It was all very hush-hush. The first human ever given that honour." Harkin leaned back again, "and then he blew it, screwed up his mission so bad they kicked him out." He waved his hand dismissively, "Of course, he blames Saren. Says the Turian set him up."

Shepard almost hit the former officer, never in his service to the Captain, had the man ever done anything dishonourable and if he had made a wrong call, he always took responsibility. Now what the man was saying might have a tiny bit of truth in it but the Commander was willing to stake his career on the fact that it had not played out as Harkin had explained.

He reigned in his emotions just before they showed on his face. "Just tell me where Garrus went," the Commander hissed between clenched teeth, his hands balled into fists, muscles straining to try to keep himself from striking the man.

Harkin seemed disappointed that Shepard had reacted in such an unspectacular manner and finally relented, "Garrus was sniffing around Doctor Michel's office. She runs the med-clinic on the other side of the wards. Last I heard he was going back there."

"I'm leaving," was all the N7 said as he turned around, making his way out of the suddenly insufferable atmosphere of the club.

Harkin's reply just managed to filter through to to the group. "Yeah. Good. Go. Let me drink in peace."

"Why didn't Captain Anderson tell us he used to be a Spectre?" Ashley asked, sounding surprised.

Kaidan's reply was more thought through, "Maybe it's not true. Harkin's an ass. I bet he's just messing with our heads."

Ashley thought this through, then concurred: "You're probably right. Still, I'd like to hear what the Captain has to say about all this."

Shepard was about to say that they keep the scuttlebutt at a minimum, as the Captain's past was none of their business, when a drunk looking Turian with pale skin and blue markings on his chin and mandibles, crashed into him in the doorway out of Chora's Den.

Before the Commander, or any of his companions could voice any sort of complaint, the drunkard drew close to Shepard and whispered in his ear. "If you've got questions about Jenna meet me at C-Sec Academy."

Shepard caught on quick. "Are you talking to me?" he asked, seemingly baffled.

The Turian was magically drunk again, "Push off! I never did nothing to you." His voice held none of the rationality it had moments ago. "Damn newcomers. Think they can run the place," he mumbled as he staggered towards the magenta-lit bar.

Kaidan looked from the receding Turian's back to Shepard. "What was all that about?" he asked, puzzled.

Shepard shrugged in reply, "Guess we better go find out. But first lets get into contact with Garrus. Running from one side of the Wards to another might be good for our health, but I don't think Saren is going to wait until we're all the size of that guy who acted in the first _Terminator_ movies... you know the one with, 'ze über-hardcore german accent, ja?'"

Ashley snorted, trying not to laugh aloud as various aliens gave the group disapproving looks. "Sorry, but no, sir. Never been one for the 'golden oldies'" Kaidan replied, tone serious. Ashley was too busy clutching her sides from trying not to laugh, to say anything.

The squad at last found their way to the entrance of the med-clinic. It looked to be a small establishment, more like a general practitioners practice, than a true clinic. But it was exactly like all medical facilities, clean white-plated walls, and that annoying smell of a sterilized environment.

On the inside it proved to be very different from what it portrayed on the outside, although it was probably only because it was Shepard who walked in and if he wasn't the one finding action, it was finding him. The structure itself was quite normal, white pillars and a small garden, with medical stations and beds dispersed evenly along the one wall. It was the people there that made the scene extra-ordinary.

The scene that was playing out in front of the marines seemed to have been taken out of a classic 'mobster' movie. Three Human thugs were holding a female, Human doctor, who Shepard assumed was Doctor Michel against a pillar, pistols threateningly held directed towards her. Unbeknown to the thugs, the Turian C-Sec officer, Garrus, was silently taking position behind another pillar.

"I didn't tell anyone. I swear!" the Doctor was saying to the men, her French-accented voice shaking slightly. She seemed to be in her forties and had red jaw-length hair.

"That was a smart move Doc," the one in charge replied. His features were more akin to those of a brick than a man. He had a square face, red hair and was unshaven. His voice was harsh and grating and he seemed to enjoy putting the doctor in such distress. "Now, if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll..."

Seeing the threat the marines reacted almost unconsciously, battle-honed reflexes bringing their preferred weapons to bear. Shepard and Ashley's assault-rifles smoothly slid into their hands as they deployed, Kaidan's blue-black corona flared to life as he summoned his biotics.

'Brick' seemed to have seen the sudden movement in the corner of his eye. He grabbed the terrified Doctor and pulled her in front of himself, like a shield, gun pointed threateningly at her head. "Who are you?" he shouted, clearly not expecting company.

"Let her go!" Shepard shouted in reply, weapon trained on the head of the man. He could easily pick him off, but he would not risk a dying twitch to kill the Doctor.

Just then Garrus swung around the pillar he was hiding behind and shot the thug in the head. Both he and the woman he had been holding cried out as they fell to the ground. Taking advantage of the sudden confusion Ashley and Kaidan both eliminated the other two men. Ashley, by firing a burst of sledgehammer rounds into the one's chest and Kaidan, by warp-throwing the other into the opposite wall with such force that he crumpled to the ground, broken. Neither had been wearing any form of body armour.

"Clear!" Ashley called out, after she had checked behind the crates, stored in the corner of the room.

Garrus turned to Shepard, holstering his gun. "Perfect timing, Shepard. Gave me a clear shot at that bastard," he said, the dead thugs and Doctor fleeing his thoughts.

"What the hell, were you thinking? You could've hit the hostage!" Shepard exploded, causing Garrus to flinch back visibly, the Commander was furious with the Turian, for endangering an innocent so. _He's a damn cop! He should know better,_ the thought flashed through the Shepard's mind.

Garrus struggled to compose himself in front of the fuming Human. "There wasn't time to think!" he lamely said, "I just reacted. I didn't mean to..." He suddenly remembered the Doctor lying on the floor and rushed to help her up. "Doctor Michel? Are you hurt?"

The woman struggled upright with the aid of the C-Sec officer, hugging herself, shocked at all she had just experienced, _three lives ended... right here... in front of me... this is supposed to be a place __of healing... _She seemed to find her voice at last. "No. I'm okay. Thanks to you. All of you."

"I know those men threatened you. But if you tell us who they work for, we can try to protect you from further harm." Shepard hated how hollow his words sounded, but he needed to do something.

Michel didn't seem too worried about revealing the thugs' employer. "They work for Fist," she said, her French accent lilting. "They wanted to keep me from telling Garrus about the Quarian."

Shepard looked at her sharply. "What Quarian?" he carefully enquired.

Doctor Michel seemed to drift into the past. "A few days ago a Quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run." The Doctor looked at the marines, "she asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide."

Shepard crossed his arms and shifted slightly. "Then what?" he simply asked.

Michel looked down regretfully, "I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Not any more," it was Garrus who spoke, "now he works for Saren and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it."

The Doctor shook her head in disbelief, "Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's stupid, even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer."

Garrus nodded, showing that he agreed with her, the marines, who were oblivious to Citadel politics didn't have an opinion on any of this. "That Quarian must have something that proves he's a traitor," the Turian said, almost to himself. He turned to the red-haired woman next to him, "did the Quarian mention anything about Saren? Or the Geth?" Garrus asked, excited.

Michel looked at those assembled, face glowing. "She did! The information she was going to trade. She said it had something to do with the Geth."

Garrus looked at the Commander, "she must be able to link Saren to the Geth. There's no way the Council can ignore this!"

Shepard looked at the corpses, lying on the clinic floor. "Time we paid this Fist a visit," his voice had taken a spine-chilling edge to it. Doctor Michel found herself hoping she would never be the target of this man's ire.

"This is your show, Shepard. But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you!" Garrus seemed desperate not to be left behind. Shepard assessed the Turian closely and after a short pause he nodded, "Sure, just try not to be too trigger-happy... at least when I'm around." Shepard took his leave of the Doctor and turned to leave, "Now about that Krogan merc."

:: :: :: ::

Garrus was both confused and in awe. He had seen and even talked to this Commander Shepard in the Citadel Tower, but that short exchange hadn't come close to preparing him for this confrontation. Shepard was like a high-velocity planet-cracker, with a brain. It had taken him weeks to get this far in the investigation, but Shepard, he had been on the station for less than a day and already he was flying past him at FTL(Faster-than-light for the unenlightened) speeds.

Just when he had finally found a lead, with the aid of Doctor Michel, the Commander flew in and took over all control of the situation.

He had seen the thugs enter the clinic and used one of the hidden 'keeper-paths' to make it inside. No sooner than when he had made it to the pillar, the humans burst in. Shepard was right, that shot had been stupid, his father would have flayed him alive for such a stupid move, had the crabby old bugger been there.

Now he was following a Human, _a Human!_ No doubt, his father would also have something to say about that. At least this one was skilled, intelligent, brave and honourable; probably of a breed rare to the whole galaxy, never mind his own species.

:: :: :: ::

_Ha! These C-Sec are such weaklings and cowards, _Wrex thought as he shouldered his way past the officers who had been trying to detain him. They always brought him in for a few 'questions' when he came to the Citadel, no doubt trying to deter him from causing too much trouble.

The Krogan bounty-hunter was a stereotypical example of his species: battle-scarred, stubborn, the size of a YMIR mech and as hard to kill as a cockroach. He steered his intimidating form towards the elevators, leading to the Wards from the C-Sec Academy. He was about to shove a group of gawking Humans and a Turian out of is way, when he noticed the one in the front of the group was meeting his look of disdain with one that froze the Krogan in his tracks. The ice-blue eyes said "I know you bounty-hunter, I'm not frightened by you and if you get in my way I _will_ take you down." Wrex not only realized the man would take him on, the confidence he radiated seemed to indicate that he might even win. The bounty-hunter then realised he had seen this Human before.

:: :: :: ::

"Do I know you Human?" Wrex's deep gruttal voice growled, as the Krogan came to a standstill in front of the small group. Garrus, Ashley and Kaidan let out a collective breath, it had seemed as if the huge creature was going to charge right through them. Shepard didn't flinch.

"My name is Shepard. I'm going after Fist. Thought you might want to come along."

_Damn, this Human has quads, _Wrex thought. The man had done things the way a Krogan would have done them: Short, simple and to the point, he even dared to claim territory Wrex was involved with. This Shepard was gaining more and more of Wrex's respect, something not easily done.

"Shepard? Commander Shepard? I've heard a lot about you." News travelled fast in the underworld, Shepard had caused ripples on numerous occasions, as an N7 he was generally a target for the Batarians and as for his actions on Elysium, well let's just say all of those pirates had friends, family and employers. Now he was causing with Saren, this human really did have a Battlemaster's set of quads... "We're both warrior's, Shepard. Out of respect I'll give you fair warning. I'm going to kill Fist."

"Fist knows you're coming. We'll have a better chance if we work together." Garrus commented.

_Typical C-Sec,_ "My people have a saying, seek the enemy of your enemy and you will find a friend." Wrex replied, blood-red lizard-eyes turning back on Shepard.

"Sounds a lot like a certain Human saying, although there's another one that contradicts it: the enemy of my enemy is probably also an enemy, even if they're useful." The Commander commented off-handedly.

"Ha! Shepard! I like you! You think like one of my own people," the bounty-hunter's laughter reverberated through the room like a rock-slide, causing various people to look at the massive Krogan. They quickly looked away again, pretending as if nothing had happened.

Shepard smiled and shook the Battlemaster's hand, "I think were going to get along just fine, Wrex."

The group, now five strong made it's way towards the administrative department of the Academy, to the office pointed out to them by one of the officers standing sentry. The Turian that had bumped into them at Chora's Den started visibly when he saw who had entered the room, he was now wearing an armour identical to Garrus' and no longer smelt of alcohol.

"Greetings Commander Shepard, I am Inspector Chellick. No offence, Commander, but what the hell were you thinking?" the Turain asked as soon as he had composed himself, obviously getting caught up by his emotions.

"Watch your tongue Chellick," Shepard warned, this cop was getting ahead of himself, speaking to him like that.

"You could have blown Jenna's cover."

"We were trying to help her, to get out of something that you stuck her into." Ashley replied cooly.

"I gathered that," Chellick said, the sarcasm in this statement barely hidden. "I might seem cold, letting her face all the risk. But we're keeping a close eye on her."

Shepard shifted his position, folding his arms, clearly not satisfied with this answer. "But you're still using her," he pointed out.

"This job isn't easy and it's usually unpleasant. I'll take help anywhere I can find it." The C-Sec officer thought for a moment, "but since you're so concerned about her safety, maybe there's a way we can help each other."

Garrus would have raised an eyebrow at this if he had had any, "It's nice to see you're still working all the angles, Chellick," he commented.

The one Turian shot the other a look. "It's part of the job. Now are you going to help me or not?" he retorted somewhat sharply.

Shepard contemplated not aiding the C-Sec officer, as payback for his attitude, but that would be petty and besides, there would probably be a reward. He would strain the Turian, just a bit though. "Your'e a smart guy, Chellick. Figure out another way."

Chellick sighed in resignation. "I do have several contingencies; she's just option 'A'. I'll cut her loose,even get her out of Chora's Den, no strings attached. But that still leaves me my case unsolved. I could still use your help," he cast out hopefully.

Shepard, having made the officer sweat enough agreed, "I'll help you, but I need details."

Chellick explained that he had been tracking an illegal arms producer, Jax, and that with Jenna's information he had found him. Shepard would have to pose as a buyer to meet with him and pick up the mods. These could then be used as evidence to arrest the man.

:: :: :: ::

Not wanting to give Saren a too large a head-start, the Commander opted to take care of Fist first. As the party drew near to Chora's Den, it became apparent that they were expected, Fist had probably set out sentries to keep an eye out for Wrex's approach and they had warned him of their coming.

Garrus commented as much, "Looks like the place is shut down."

Wrex nodded, sniffing the air, "Fist knows we're coming." Then the Krogan smiled, he was looking forward to the coming fight..

Shepard turned to Ashley and Kaidan, "I need you two to stay here. No..." he immediately cut off Ashley before she could object, "I need someone with military authority to keep civvies away and besides," he said grabbing the two marines by the shoulder in a firm grip, "I need someone to watch my six while I'm busy blasting thugs with two aliens. Never know what unpleasant sorts would want to take that opportunity to ambush me from behind."

Ashley nodded regretfully agreeing, "Yes, sir." Both she and Kaidan saluted before taking up defensive positions at the door.

"You command great respect and admiration from your troops Shepard," Wrex growled, "If they follow you much longer, who knows what they will be willing to do for you..."

Shepard shrugged, "I just do my job." Saying that he drew his rifle and headed towards the door leading into the club.

:: :: :: ::

Fist lay dead at the feet of Wrex. The Krogan had shot the crime-boss shortly after he had revealed the whereabouts of the Quarian. The trio had made short work of Fist's defences; Shepard had laid door-breaching charges on the door to Chora's Den. The explosion blew the door off of it's tracks, immediately killing the man that had been standing behind it, waiting to ambush the group opening it.

The door itself was embedded in the counter of the bar, sparks jumping from where it had broken the neon lights. The body of the unfortunate man lay sprawled across the floor, limbs twisted at awkward angles. The club had been emptied of all patrons and dancers in their stead were armed bouncers, bodyguards and mercenaries.

Wrex had led the charge, his massive form shielding Garrus and the Commander as they followed him in. While the muzzles of their weapons spouted flame and death, Garrus and Shepard, each found cover behind some piece of furniture; Shepard behind a small wall, separating a table from the doorway, Garrus behind an overturned table. Wrex trusted solely on his shields and biotic-barrier, shotgun belching as he ran up to a Human, firing from behind the bar. The Krogan dived over the counter, crushing the man against the base of the stage with his massive bulk.

Garrus was more calculating in his approach, like most Turians, carefully waiting for the right opportunity and then making that critical hit that either crippled or killed the target. He cleanly dispatched the thug shooting from the stage.

Shepard's tactics had changed from the ones he had used on Eden Prime, he no longer charged at his foes to engage in meleé combat, instead he deftly moved from cover to cover, occasionally firing to suppress his opponents.

Garrus was about to shoot another one of the thugs taking cover by the 'private entertainment' alcoves when one of the Krogan bouncers shot him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. The bouncer charged to where the Turian had fallen to finish him off when Shepard popped out from his current hiding spot firing at the krogan until his weapon overheated. Roaring in rage the bouncer turned on the N7, when two successive shots hit him from the side, one in the shoulder, the other in the face, sending the now dead alien to the floor. Shepard acknowledged Wrex for his assistance and then turned to fire at an approaching thug.

The main room cleared and Garrus' kinetic-barriers back on-line, the only resistance between Shepard and Fist had beet some warehouse workers who, gratefully, gave up their weapons and left. Confronting Fist had been slightly challenging as he had had two automated turrets to cover himself, but Shepard's grenades took care of them as Wrex ran up to the Human lynch-pin, shrugging off his attempts at self defence as he picked him up bodily and threw him to the floor, forcing him to surrender.

"Wait, don't kill me! I surrender!" Fist shouted as Wrex towered over him.

Shepard looked down at the criminal, levelling the muzzle of his pistol at his head, "Where's the Quarian?"

"She's not here," Fist spluttered. "I don't know where she is. That's the truth!"

Wrex looked at Fist, _This human is worse than those C-Sec cowards,_ "He's no use to you now . Let me kill him."

This seemed to get Fists priorities realigned, "Wait! Wait! I don't know where the Quarian is, but I know where you can find her. She isn't here. Said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."

Wrex snorted in contempt, "Face to face? Impossible! Even I was hired through an agent."

Fist nodded, "Nobody meets with the Shadow Broker. Ever. Even I don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up. But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

Shepard grabbed the downed crime-boss by his shirt, holding his gun against the man's chin. "Give me the location. Now!" His voice had taken on its cold edge again.

"Here on the wards," Fist said so quickly he almost stumbled over his words in his haste. "The back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry."

Shepard dropped the once-powerful crime-lord and turned to leave, when Wrex simply shot Fist, killing him instantly.

"What are you doing?" Garrus shouted.

Shepard looked at the Krogan, the same question in his blue eyes. Wrex shrugged, "The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him. I don't leave jobs half done."

"We don't shoot unarmed prisoners!" Shepard knew that the mercenary had different morals to him, but he was now, however temporary, under his command and things would be done _his_ way.

"How many people died because of him?" Wrex retorted, "he brought this on himself. Besides we have more pressing concerns."

"Yes," Garrus seconded, "that Quarian's dead if we don't go now!"

Shepard dropped the conversation and sprinted out of the room, others in tow.

_Author's note: I tried something new with that last battle in Chora's Den, if you prefer I keep it chronological instead of Present Past Present just let me know._

_Thanks to 360widdershins and Frostyshimmer for beta-reading._

_Everything belongs to Bioware._


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: More Politics**

Tali was suspicious of this whole deal. Doctor Michel had seemed honest enough but that Fist guy was a really shifty character, she thought as she fiddled with the equipment on her utility-belt. Just as she decided that this was not worth it a turian walked up to her from behind one of the crates, no doubt having used one of the many service tunnels that the keepers travelled through.

He was dressed in dark colours, his face marked with a skull-like emblem and at his hip was a pistol. "Did you bring it?" he sneered at Tali. No she did not trust this lout with something as precious as the information she had acquired, he was obviously not the Shadow Broker. "Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" she shouted, backing away.

The turian lunged after her grabbing her arm,"They'll be here. Where's the evidence?" Now Tali decided that she had had enough. "No way, the deal's off." she said ripping her arm from the thug's grip, she slipped a grenade from her belt and threw it at the feet of the turian, diving as it detonated, the concussion sending both of them flying. Tali hit a crate, knocking her head, sending everything into a blur. Figures emerged from where the thug had come from, weapons drawn. Tali despaired, there was no chance she could do anything in time to stop them from killing her. Damn! She wished she could get her hands on that bosh'tet, Fist!

Then when she thought it all was over, the crate behind the thugs exploded, shrapnel flying into their exposed backs. Their cries of pain came through Tali's audio filters somewhat muffled, her environmental suit's VI automatically dampening the noise of all the sudden gunfire, as from behind the crate against which Tali was lying bullets ripped into the disorientated would-be-assassins.

The fire-fight was over quickly. The turian and his companions dealt with efficiently and lethally. Tali groaned pressing her hand to her face-mask wishing the thundering in her ears would recede. She was about to struggle up when an armoured hand was proffered. She paused hesitantly, but then waved her doubt away and accepted the assistance. She was hoisted to her feet by a man who was obviously used to dealing with heavier loads, as she almost fell right over again. He quickly caught her by the arms and steadied her, his grip comforting and friendly, instead of cruel like the turian's had been.

Tali then, once she had regained her ability to stand, looked at her saviours. There was a massive krogan looming in the background checking his shotgun, a wicked scar playing across his face. Next to him was a male human with dark hair and a serious expression, in light armour, biotic corona still glowing slightly from the recent battle. In front of these was another human, this one female, assault rifle resting against her shoulder as she grinned in amusement at the turian next to her who was whacking his gun with his fist, the overheated heat-sinks glowing red in the dark light of the alley. Leading them all was the man standing in front of her, the one who had helped her up, he was also human but his hair had been cropped short, almost making him bald. His eyes were a piercing blue, when Tali looked at them she felt as if he could see right through the tinted visor of her mask into her very being. He was smiling at her, with a hint of worry and anticipation tugging at the corner of his lips.

After having absorbed all of this Tali groaned, "Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!"

The man in front of her looked at the krogan behind him with a slight look of disapproval as he replied, "Don't worry about Fist. He got what was coming to him."

Tali looked at the man with surprise. This human was amazing. He had saved her from the thugs and meted out justice on him who was responsible for their involvement in the first place. "Then I guess there are two things I need to thank you for. Who are you?" she asked her curiosity finally getting the better of her.

:: :: :: ::

The quarian was wearing a black environmental-suit and matching purple boots, gloves and hood, with the hood partially covering her helmet and visor. She had numerous utility-belts strapped to her, each of them carrying some tool or gadget.

She had been fortunate that they had arrived when they did, if Shepard and his squad had taken any longer she would not have seen another cycle. She didn't seem too badly shaken in the wake of her ordeal. Some minor concussion after getting knocked so hard, but that was easily rectified. Shepard let go of the obviously young woman's arms after making sure that she had found her feet again and answered her query. "My name is Shepard, Alaric Shepard, but most just call me Shepard, or Commander. I leave it up to you what you want to call me." he paused for a second, "Of those two, please, not just anything that comes to mind. Anyway, now that that is over with, I'm looking for evidence to prove that Saren is a traitor, any chance you could help in that regard."

_Ahh..._ Tali thought, that accounts for the timely arrival in a deserted alley and the taking care of Fist. The least she could do was to repay this human for his kindness. "Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life," she said aloud, "But not here." She looked at the bodies in disgust, "We need to go somewhere safe."

At this point Garrus tapped Shepard on the shoulder and when the marine looked him he continued, "We could take her to the human embassy. Your ambassador will want to see this anyway."

"Good idea," Shepard said nodding in agreement of the plan. He then motioned for the rest of his squad to assemble. "We are too large a group to move about together without calling attention to us, and it might just work out better for us if Saren doesn't know all of those he's dealing with." he paused indicating to Wrex and Garrus. "I'll need you two to make your way to the Normandy already. It's docked with the other Alliance vessels, above C-Sec Academy, I'll let XO Pressly know that you're coming, she's a smaller vessel, but I'm sure you'll find a space to call your own."

If Garrus and Wrex had anything against what Shepard said they didn't show it. Both of them were too disciplined to show emotions when orders were issued. Shepard promptly turned his attention to those remaining, "Kaidan, Ash, I want you two to come with me, we'll escort our quarian friend here to the embassy, let's hope she hasn't made any more dodgy deals hey?" as he said this he looked at Tali, smiling teasingly. If they could have seen through her visor they would have her seen her blush furiously, but they didn't really need to, as her body-language expressed exactly how embarrassed she was.

:: :: :: ::

Ambassador Udina looked up with irritation at Shepard when the N7 and his companions entered the embassy. His look screaming _"You had better be able to explain this..."_ What he really said was along the same lines, "You're not making my life any easier, Shepard. Firefights in the Wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many..." The ambassador cut off his tirade when he noticed the newest addition to Shepard's squad. "Who's this? A quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?"

The small group came to a standstill, Shepard's face giving nothing away, "Just doing my job, sir. You wanted proof Saren's a traitor. This is it."

Udina, surprised, quickly changed his demeanour. "Really?" he gave a questioning look at Tali, "Maybe you should start at the beginning, Miss?"

"My name is Tali. Tali 'Zorah nar Reyya," the quarian replied.

"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the Flotilla?"

"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood."

Tali didn't seem to have a problem answering the queries of the ambassador, but this was not getting them anywhere, Shepard thought. The only reason one would see a quarian away from the flotilla, was if they were on their pilgrimage across the galaxy to find something of value to return to their people. Obviously the ambassador was too arrogant to find out about the cultures of the different species they shared the universe with. Better to get to the point. "Tell us what you found," he asked as soon as Udina paused his interrogation.

The quarian turned slightly, so that she could address them all better. "During my travels I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, they have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious," she said shrugging. "I tracked a patrol of geth to an unnamed world. I waited for one to become separated from it's unit. Then I disabled it and removed it's memory core."

Captain Anderson who had been standing next to the ambassador the whole time then addressed the young woman, "I thought the geth fried their memory unit when they died. Some kind of defence mechanism."

Tali nodded in agreement, "That's true, it was mostly wiped clean but since it was my people who created the geth in the first place, I was able to salvage something from it's audio banks."

At this she activated her Omni-tool, the amber holo flickering to life around her arm as her skilled fingers flew across the different controls, Shepard also noticed that the tool also had some extra options that didn't usually come packaged with run-of-the-mill systems, it had obviously been modified to suit the needs of it's user.

"Eden Prime was a major victory!" Saren's gravely turian voice said, "The beacon brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

Captain Anderson was obviously exited, "That's Saren's voice. This proves he was involved in the attack!"

Shepard focused on another point the Captain seemed to have missed, "He said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to the Conduit." He looked at those assembled questioningly, "Any idea what that means?"

The Captain quickly also latched onto this train of thought, "It must be some kind of Prothean technology... like a weapon."

Before he could continue the masked quarian spoke up again, obviously not intimidated by any of the important people surrounding her. "Wait, there's more. Saren wasn't working alone."

Everyone looked at her in surprised but remained silent while she replayed the message, this time letting it run it's full course. After the recording of Saren, the voice of a woman spoke, "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

When the woman's voice said the last word, a chill ran down Shepard's spine, somehow the mention of these 'Reapers' set off a primal fear in the N7. Then Udina spoke up, "I don't recognise that other voice, the one talking about the Reapers."

Shepard shook his head, "I feel like I've heard that name before.."

Tali nodded indicating that she had also come across it elsewhere, "According to the memory core the Reapers are a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. They hunted the Prothaens to extinction, and then they vanished. At least that's what the geth believe."

The ambassador frowned, "Sounds a little far-fetched."

Shepard finally pieced together why the name sounded so familiar, "The vision on Eden Prime, I understand it now, what I saw was Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life and they believe Saren knows how to bring them back." the quarian quickly chirped in when Shepard finished, determined to say her part.

The N7 looked at her in surprise, she was obviously a highly skilled technician if she had managed to extract that much info from a fried MU, even for a quarian, who had to know everything about running a ship, since their very existence depended on it.

"The council is going to love this." Udina commented.

Shepard looked at him sceptically, "This is a lot to handle, they might just ignore everything we tell them."

"No matter what they think of the rest of this." Captain Anderson said waving his hand in dismissal, "Those audio files prove Saren's a traitor."

Udina nodded in agreement, satisfied with the evidence, "The Captain's right, we need to present this to the Council right away. Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself, Commander. Then meet us in the Tower."

After the two older men had left leaving Shepard's group alone in the embassy Kaidan turned to Shepard, "What about her, sir? The quarian." he asked indicating Tali.

The young alien, who had been admiring the stylish décor, turned to face them, "My name is Tali!" she almost shouted. With the opaque visor covering her face they couldn't tell what her expression was, but her tone of voice said it all. It changed quickly as she turned to Shepard. "You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do! Let me come with you." she said pleadingly.

Shepard hid his grin well, "I thought you were on your Pilgrimage," he said raising an eyebrow.

"The Pilgrimage proves that we are willing to give ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this? Saren is a threat to the entire galaxy. My Pilgrimage can wait." The quarian explained so fast Shepard's translator had trouble keeping up with her.

He finally waved his hands in resignation, "Okay, okay, I'll take all the help I can get."

"Thanks," Tali said her voice betraying her grin, "You won't regret this."

:: :: :: ::

It seemed that despite being knee-deep in galaxy changing events Shepard seemed to find time to sort out small troubles. On his way to the Tower he organised the release of the body of one of the soldiers having died on Eden Prime so that her family might lay her to rest. Ashley was also grateful for this since she had known the woman personally, Settled a dispute between a widowed mother and her brother-in-law, about whether her unborn child should undergo in-ureto treatment for a genetic heart disease the woman's husband had died of. turned in the device a salarian called Chells had been using to cheat at quasar, hacked an ambitious AI, which yielded a heap of stolen credits, sorted out the whole business with Chorban and his partner Jaleed, who had been fighting about the keeper-data and turned in the data he had acquired from Fist's system to Emily Wong, promising to to give her an exclusive in the future. She paid him double for the opportunity to be the first to have such a chance. When they finally reached the Tower, the group was footsore, tired and a good deal richer for running from one end of the Citadel to the other. But they were determined to close off this business with Saren, so the three marines and the quarian made their way up the stairs leading to the Council-assembly.

"I can't wait to see the looks on the Council's faces when we show them the evidence against Saren," Ashley was saying as they ascended the tower.

Tali snorted, "If it's worth trying to kill me for, I hope it's sufficient," she said as she followed the humans.

Ashley looked at the young quarian sympathetically, "It's a damn shame you can't always trust those in charge to make the right choices."

Kaidan nodded, "Yes, well... that's human nature for you... or it would be if they were human," correcting himself after realising what he had said.

The group stopped with the idle chatter as they approached Captain Anderson, who was waiting one flight of stairs from the Council-assembly chamber, just like he had been on the first time they had come here. As they drew near he motioned for them to follow him, "Come on, Udina's already presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council."

By the time they reached the top of the stairs and drawn up alongside the Ambassador, the recording had already finished playing. Udina stepped forward, "You wanted proof. There it is."

"This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes." The turian Councillor said.

The asari Councillor seemed slightly distracted, then the source of her distress was made apparent, "I recognise that other voice that one speaking with Saren, Matriarch Benezia."

Matriarchs were powerful figures in asari society, having reached the final stage of their long lifespan, they were seen as leaders and councillors of their people. They were usually not seen outside asari space but the Consort and Councillor were both examples of Matriarchs that preformed their duties on the Citadel, lending their experience to the running of intergalactic civilisation. In his years in the Alliance Special forces Shepard had compiled a substantial knowledge of leading figures in Citadel bureaucracy but he had not heard of Matriarch Benezia. Before he could ask the Councillor filled everyone in on what she knew. "Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic and she has many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren."

"I am more interested in the Reapers. What do you know of them?" The Salarian queried the humans and quarian.

Captain Anderson filled him in on what they knew of them, that from the geth data it had been collected that the Reapers were an ancient machine race, that wiped out the Protheans, then vanished. Commander Shepard then explained that the geth thought of them as gods, with Saren as their prophet. Anderson finished off by mentioning their beliefs that the Conduit was a means of bringing back the Reapers and that that had been Saren's motivation for attacking the human colony.

"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" The salarian representative asked.

Shepard thought about it. hey had no fixed intel on what the ConduitT actually was, but that Saren wanted it was bad enough. He voiced this, and was rewarded by a barking laugh from the turian Councillor, "So what you're is that Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real we would have found something!"

Shepard was getting irritated by all of this doubt, constantly being projected his way. Finally he couldn't take it any more. "I tried to warn you about Saren!" he burst out, "But you refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again."

"This is different. You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the geth to search for this Conduit, but we don't really know why," the Asari Councillor said calmly.

The Salarian Councillor continued on this train of thought, "The Reapers are obviously a myth, Commander. A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."

"Listen to yourselves!" Shepard exclaimed vehemently, "Now that I've proven Saren's a traitor, your lack of belief in my words before is 'different'. That Matriarch of yours is saying exactly why he's searching for it and what are the chances of him discovering the perfect legend he needs to get a whole fragging machine army to do what he wants." He paused momentarily before continuing, "Fifty thousand years ago the Reapers wiped out galactic civilisation, if Saren finds the Conduit it will happen again!"

It was the turian Councillor who spoke next, "Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights of resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position."

"That's not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the traverse. Send your fleet in!" Surprisingly enough it wasn't Shepard who had said this. It had been Ambassador Udina.

"A fleet cannot track down one man," the salarian Councillor replied.

Udina was relentless in his arguments, "A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region, keep the geth from attacking any more colonies."

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems! We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies!" The turian councillor explained angrily.

_You're already in a 'galactic confrontation' ,you just refuse to see it. This is just the beginning and a 'few dozen' human colonies won't be the only ones at risk._ Shepard thought, but his personal monologue was interrupted by the asari Councillor, who rose her voice over the complaining Ambassador, cutting him off. "Ambassador! There is another solution, a way to stop Saren that does not require fleets or armies."

The turian Councillor looked at her incerdulously, "No! It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."

Shepard just managed to stop his jaw from dropping, he heard Tali giggling behind him, obviously one of the marines had not been fast enough to hide their surprise. How on earth did the Councillors think of such a thing at this point in time, but it was probably necessary for them to know what resources they have at hand, so the asari had probably been thinking about it for a while. The Councilors looked at one another, silent signals passing among them until the turian submitted, finally nodding in resignation.

The asari councillor looked at those assembled, her seniority above the other two obvious, "Commander Shepard, step forward."

Anderson gave Shepard an encouraging look before the N7 took his place in front of the group. The asari continued, "It is the decision of the council that you be granted all powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

The salarian Councillor continued, "Spectres are not trained, but they are chosen. Individuals forged by the fire of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

The turian said his part, "Spectres bear a great burden. They are the protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

Many had gathered in the balconies overlooking the Council proceedings, and a crowd had assembled at the edge of the sunken garden underneath Shepard, witnessing this surprising, yet momentous occasion.

The asari councillor looked down at Shepard from her raised position, "You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you, and your entire species."

Shepard struck his fist to his chest in archaic salute and bowed his head. "I'm honoured, Councillor."

The Salarian Councillor then continued, "We're sending you into the traverse after Saren. He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorised to use any means to apprehend or eliminate him."

Shepard nodded, "I'll find him."

The asari councillor looked at those assembled and then looked foreward, "This meeting of the Council is adjourned."

As the Councillors disappeared into their chambers the four humans around Shepard gathered around him to congratulate him, Tali stood at a distance, not knowing how to behave in a situation like this. "Congratulations, Commander." the captain said as he shook the Commander's hand. Udina's approach was more businesslike, "We've got a lot of work to do. Shepard you're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies... Anderson, come with me. I'll need your help to set this all up."

The Captain gave Shepard a hopeless look of exasperation and followed the Ambassador. As soon as the two 'suits' had left Ashley came up next to Shepard pounding him on the shoulder, "Congrats, sir! I thought there was something different about you." after Shepard gave her a look she quickly took her hand from his back, stammering, "Nothing bad, just... different... dammit, I'll just shut up right about now." The Commander smiled in silent laughter at Ashley's clumsiness, as he accepted the congratulations of Tali and Kaidan.

They travelled back to the Alliance docking station, discussing the recent events. In the elevator Tali finally commented, "I thought the ambassador would be a little more grateful. He didn't even thank you."

"Well, I guess he had a lot on his mind at the time."

Ashley smirked, "Yeah, right. Probably congratulating himself on the wonderful goal he reached 'for humanity'."

Shepard looked at the young soldier disapprovingly, "Shut it marine, we don't speak of our representatives like that... I mean we've got the eyes of the whole galaxy fixed on us." he said indicating Tali with a nod of his head in her direction. "Not that I think you're some sort of spy Tali, I just want these marines to realise gossip is bad form, not to mention we still have a krogan and turian on board the _Normandy_."

At this Ashley's face turned red. She probably had to get used to the idea that she was now in the limelight, next to the first human Spectre. His team's actions would mean as much as his in the coming days and Shepard's casual manner made it easy to forget that she was in the presence of a CO. Tali nodded that she understood Shepard, she also realised that as a leader he might be forced to put his foot down when the average being could just let something pass, he also had a defined sense of right and wrong and wasn't afraid to back up his beliefs.

When the elevator finally came to a standstill and the doors hissed open, they were greeted by the Captain and Ambassador and it was revealed to them that Shepard had been given command of the _Normandy._ The newly instated Spectre was unsure of this surprising change, not because he was now to be Captain of his own vessel, but that Anderson had been so efficiently removed from his post. In response to Shepard's insecurity, the Captain and Udina both pronounced that it was necessary. Anderson also said that he hadn't thought he would end his days behind a desk, but this was for the better. So after the Captain had taken leave of the crew, Shepard promptly made his way towards the helm, where Joker was already waiting for him.

"I heard what happened to Captain Anderson. Survives a hundred battles and then gets taken down by back-room politics... Just watch your back Commander. Things go bad on this mission, you're next on the chopping block," The Pilot said over his shoulder.

Shepard grunted in response, "It just feels wrong for me to just take his place like this."

"Don't worry, sir. We know this isn't your fault. Me and the crew, we're one-hundred percent behind you. If you've got anything to say, the intercom's open," Joker said indicating to the light that had just turned green.

Shepard nodded, "I guess now's as good a time as ever." He leaned forward so that the microphone would pick up his voice, "This is Commander Shepard. We have our orders crew: find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie to you, this won't be easy. Our enemy is holed up in the Traverse. Saren is sure to have followers just waiting to pick a fight with us, but we're ready for them! This is the most important mission any of us have ever been on. The fate of the whole galaxy is at stake and for too long has humanity stood apart. It is time for us to step up and do our part! We will stop Saren. Too long has he been free to do as he wills. He thinks of humanity as a small fish in a big pond but we will show him! As you have no doubt noticed, we're not alone in this fight, we have allies, some now even part of this impressive crew. Let's show Saren that we can take him down; him and his plans to bring back the Reapers!

_Thanks to:Frostyshimmer and 360widdershins for beta -reading this._

_AN:Yes I know it's been forever, since my last update. But things have been really hectic recently. Also our telephone lines were stolen, therefore no internet (had to wait 'till we got wireless to post this)... gotta love third-world countries;)_

_No promises for the next chapter either, I'm writing but with final exams coming up..._

_The concepts and ideas of Mass Effect belong to Bioware._


End file.
